Chignik fishermen are asking the state Board of Fisheries to increase the focus on pink and chum salmon management in their area.
The state Board of Fisheries is meeting in Anchorage this week to consider Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Island and Chignik fisheries issues. First up after public testimony will be discussion of a handful of proposed changes for salmon fishing in the Chignik Management Area.
This morning, Bruce Barrett, a biologist for the Chignik Regional Aquaculture Association asked the board to foster more pink and chum fishing opportunities.
“With salmon prices at historic lows, coupled with an absence of a shore-based processing opportunity, in Chignik economic opportunities are constrained. Chignik can no longer depend on sockeye harvests alone to support the local fishery and make it worthwhile for a processor to invest in a shore based plant," Barrett told the board. "In many respects, Chignik fishermen have added to the current situation because of complacency. We have permitted local pinks and chums to be less than well-managed because sockeye production and prices were so sustaining. This has been a mistake.”
Chignik fisherman George Anderson echoed Barrett's testimony, and said increased pink and chum fishing would benefit the industry and the region.
Like their Bristol Bay counterparts, Chignik fishermen are also asking the board to limit the catch of Chignik-bound fish by other Alaska Peninsula fishermen. Fisherman Gary Anderson asked the board to support proposals that could limit fishing around the Dolgoi Island Section of the South Alaska Peninsula.
“I’m not saying to shut it down totally," Gary Anderson said. "Chignik understands that Dolgoi Island fishery has a historical basis. But it needs some limits, as the killing power of this fishery on Chignik sockeye is increasing well beyond reason.”
Chignik fishermen like George Anderson and others said they opposed, however, the Chignik proposal that would shut down a part of the Chignik are when a part of the Alaska Peninsula area is closed.
Under the board’s tentative agenda, the Chignik-specific proposals could be up for discussion Thursday afternoon.
