Tag Archives: Board of Fish
Setnetters turn to seining in effort to save east side fishery, king salmon
For the second year in a row, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has largely barred over 400 permit holders in Cook Inlet’s east side commercial setnet fishery from putting any gear in the water this year. This summer, one group of setnetters is deploying experimental gear they hope will preserve king salmon runs and offer relief to the fishery. On a recent overcast Thursday, Brian and Lisa Gabriel spend the day at the beach. Astride green and yellow tractors, they motor toward the end of a commercial fishing net that’s been pulled onto Cook Inlet’s shores. The net wriggles with shiny, silver sockeye salmon, which splash fishermen with wet sand as they flop around. A waiting team of about 10 people plucks the fish from the net and tosses them into waiting totes, where they swim in murky water. One or two people occasionally peel off from the group, holding handfuls of writhing flounder they hurl back into the inlet. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:17
Chignik salmon fisheries made $3000 between six permits in 2018
The exvessel value per permit has been over $100,000 for the past 10 years in the Chignik Management Area. This year, the entire fishery brought in $3000, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s season summary. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its summary of the 2018 Chignik salmon season this week. The Board of Fish already declared the sockeye salmon fishery a disaster in early July. Then the governor declared it an economic disaster in August. This report from Fish and Game confirms that the entire fishery only brought about $3000 dollars between the six permit holders who fished. Audio, >click to read<10:04
Following harvest shortfall, Sitka contemplates a herring moratorium
The Sitka Assembly has formed a committee to draft a resolution which may call for a moratorium on herring fishing in Sitka Sound. The move comes after the failure of this spring’s commercial sac roe fishery, which fell over 8,000 tons short of the expected harvest level. The idea of a commercial fishing moratorium has been around for a long time, backed primarily by the Sitka Tribe and other subsistence users concerned over declines in the local harvest of herring eggs. >click to read<16:35
Southeast Alaska winter troll fishery to remain open
Commercial trolling for king salmon in Southeast Alaska will stay open this winter beyond December. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the winter season will be open until further notice and could stay open until mid-March. That depends on any measures the Board of Fish adopts in January to protect wild Chinook returning to Southeast Alaska rivers. Historically low returns in recent years have prompted some conservation measures, including a region-wide shut down for king fishing in the summer of 2017. click here to read the story 08:13
Alaska – New opportunities for scallops, seine pollock fall flat
Alaska is trying to provide new fishing opportunities inside state waters but the two latest have fallen flat as a flounder. A scallop fishery that reverted to open access this year drew no takers by the April 1 deadline. There were no takers again in the Westward Region for a new seine pollock fishery that opened this month and will continue into June. It’s the second year for the trial fishery permitted by the state Board of Fish. For seiners, Stichert says there have been lots of tire kickers, Audio, Read the rest here 17:45
Alaska Fish Factor: Seventh Time Lucky for Personal Fisheries Priority? Fishy bills to watch, ComFish is coming!
The priority shift has been introduced during each of the last seven legislative sessions by (now) Senator Bill Stoltze (R-Chugiak), but has never made it past a first hearing – until now. Lawmakers said PU fisheries “need more protections from commercial fishermen.” The United Fishermen of Alaska’s position on the PU issue has remained the same for seven years: the legislature should leave prioritization of fishery allocations to the Board of Fish and management to the Department of Fish and Game.Read the rest here 07:29
Drones don’t fly at Alaska’s Board of Fish – Audio
The Alaska Board of Fisheries closed some waters near Angoon to purse seining in order to improve subsistence harvests, in action over the weekend (3-1-15). They also shot down the use of unmanned aircraft to aid in salmon fishing. The Board rejected the proposed ban on spotter planes. Drones, however, were not so lucky. Proposal 205 would ban the use of unmanned aircraft in salmon fisheries. Read the rest here 09:59
Cook Inlet Setnet Ballot Initiative
The fight between commercial fishermen and sportfish, personal use, and subsistence users over resource allocation has been fought at the Board of Fish and political levels for a number of years. Recently, the Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund took the State of Alaska to court over management of Cook Inlet salmon fisheries. The move expanded the battlefield from the Board of Fish to state courts. This is Lawfare by Cook Inlet commercial fishermen who are also fighting the in federal court. Read the rest here 18:54
Alaska Fish Factor: Good Science Should Drive Fisheries Policy
US – Good science should drive all fisheries decisions, and Lite Guv Mead Treadwell says he has the chops to maintain a true course.Treadwell, a Republican who hopes to unseat Democratic US Senator Mark Begich in November’s election, paid a recent visit to Kodiak and “talked fish” in a brief interview. Comment deadline flub – No one appears to know that a deadline to have a say on how man-made sounds affect marine mammals is January 27. Two days after Christmas, NOAA released its “Draft Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic [man made] Sound on Marine Mammals,” which seeks to improve understanding of acoustical impacts on the animals. Read more@thefishsite 13:40
Compass: Finger-pointing won’t put any more kings in the rivers
This summer there have been several ADN Compass pieces, articles from other print and electronic media and countless blogs stoking the fires of the Cook inlet fish wars. Recently, however, some have suggested that the lack of fish and fishing opportunity is a problem that can only be solved through a collaborative effort of all users. They are correct. @adn.com
