The 2022 Board of Fish Bristol Bay meeting is underway from Nov. 29 - Dec. 3 at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. KDLG's Izzy Ross is at the meeting. Here are her notes.
Find proposals, changes and department reports on the board's website by clicking here.
Stream live audio or video of the meeting here.
The second day of the Bristol Bay Board of Fisheries meeting featured public testimony from more than 80 people on the 52 proposals to change the fisheries' regulations.
An overwhelming majority of people who testified urged the board to postpone a decision on what to do with the state's draft plan to protect Nushagak king salmon until its statewide meeting in March. They said that will give local advisory committees and the public more time to consider it.
The Department of Fish and Game published the plan on Nov. 23, a day before Thanksgiving, so advisory committees didn’t have time to review it or weigh in before this week’s board meeting.
The department created the action plan in less than a month, after it designated Nushagak king salmon as a stock of concern because it has failed to meet the in-river goal of 95,000 fish for five of the last six years. Normally, managers would have more time to work on a plan, but the department waited to see how last summer’s king run did before making a recommendation to the board.
A slew of entities and individuals alsosubmitted documents asking the board to delay making a decision about the plan. Among them, the Bristol Bay Native Associationrecommended delaying any actions until the statewide meeting, saying that right now there isn't enough time to develop additional state monitoring and decide how to measure the plan's effectiveness.
Board of Fish delays decision on how to manage faltering Nushagak king salmon runs
The proposals to change the Nushagak-Mulchatna King Salmon Management plan are separate from the department’s draft action plan.
During public testimony, many people said they wanted to protect the Nushagak king salmon runs. But there was no clear consensus on how to do that.
Travis Ball, of Aleknagik, represented the Nushagak Advisory Committee during his testimony. He said the committee had a lot of discussion around proposal 11, which would modify the longstanding king management plan. But because the committee was also told about the department’s action plan during that meeting, members decided to delay any decisions.
Ball: "The AC unanimously voted to ask the board to defer action to a later date. We want more time to go through this process of public comment and scrutiny of the plan and make informed decisions on all aspects of king management and/or action plan across the board. Please delay this to a later date."
Distance between set nets and drifters (33 - 35)
Another set of proposals addresses conflicts between drift fishermen, who fish off boats, and set netters, who fish from beach sites.
Set netters across the fishery strongly supported proposals 34 and 35 to increase the distance allowed between drift boats and set netters. Many said it was a matter of safety. They also said that proximity of drifters can cause set netters to lose gear and fishing time if the drifters get tangled in their nets.
Matthew Block set nets commercially in Ugashik. He says the current regulations don’t provide enough protection for set netters.
Block: "Personally, I have had drift nets damage our set net gear and threaten our safety every summer in the last six years since I bought into the fishery. This happens to us several times per season. Beyond the damaged gear and lost fishing time it is more importantly a threat to our safety and lives."
Commercial set net fishermen Lindsay Layland of Dillingham also spoke to those proposals. Right now, there is a 100-foot buffer from the end of the set net and the drift boat gear out in the water.
Layland: "The proposal requests a 300 foot distance. As I mentioned, as a set netter, obviously a 3 million-foot distance is appropriate. I'm kidding. I think that actually 300 feet might be a bit much, I think it's gonna be hard to enforce. I think it's going to be difficult for harvest capabilities, and we know we've had huge runs in the Bristol Bay region. I would be excited to see 150 feet and I do have some an exception because as we — some of my beach colleagues — we have experienced some pretty serious entanglements injuries are severe getting too close pushing that line a little too far."
Shortening towlines (36 - 38)
Another point of focus was a group of proposals to shorten drift towlines. Several proposals recommend limiting drift boat towlines to 100 feet. Some people support that, saying that longer towlines allow drifters to fish in between set net sites.
Another set netter who fishes at Coffee Point in the Nushagak District, Tom Rollman, said longer nets allow boats to fish in shallower water.
Rollman: "There are YouTube videos of guys setting 30 knots in six inches of water in there and [in] Flounder [Flats]. And that fishery's evolved, and I think things need to be addressed; 1,200 feet's too much. It's allowing those drifters to basically be set netters. And I think shortening the lines would help with that. The deeper boats you know, they may not be able to get in there, but it might also keep them from leaning in so close."
But some drifters said the longer tow line is safer. One fisherman, T. Anderson, said shortening it would make the fishery more exclusive, and would give the advantage to jet boats that can fish in shallower water.
"[Instead of] a $500 towline, you got to buy a million-dollar boat to compete. And that's not a realistic starting point. I see people complaining about this or that. But the reality of the shallow water fishing is with the longer towline it's safer, you can keep your boat into the water. You can manipulate the net a little better, and it makes it easier. But the 100 foot towline is just going to make the flats a jet boat only, so anybody that's got a prop boat is not going to be able to get in there and do anything."
There was a lot of serious discussion, but there were also moments of levity. Chair Märit Carlson-Van Dort asked Kenneth Nukwak of Manokotak to explain how drifters were setting in between sites at Igushik, where he fishes.
Nukwak: "Boats are using four nets. We all know that. The fourth net is dry. The other three nets are in the water and they are using this as an opportunity to drag the other three nets back into the water every time it goes dry. That is also happening with three-net boats."
Carlson-Van Dort: "That's helpful. I'm just trying to figure out how that works."
Nukwak: "The only way to figure it out is to come over, fish with me. I'll pay you 10%."
That joke got a laugh from the room, the board members and the chair.
Togiak sport fishing proposal (29)
The Nushagak isn’t the only area where people are concerned about the kings. Proposal 29 limits sport fishing harvest for kings in Togiak. Togiak's Advisory Committee amended it, and several residents from the area spoke out in favor of it. Advisory Committee member Moses Kritz was one of them. He submitted substitute language (RC 66) that limits sport harvest to kings under 20 inches long and closes waters above the Geshiak River to sport fishing. He says commercial fishermen have already supported a boundary line to conserve king salmon.
Kritz: "We've always been in conservation mode. We need to keep the escapement up while the return was coming back in lower numbers. We need sport fishermen to also support our determination to keep that line."
Naknek sport fishery proposals (17-28, 30)
Several proposals on the east side aim to protect king salmon by limiting the sport fishery there.
One testifier, Joey Klutsch, has fished on that river for 50 years, and he has served on the advisory committee for nearly as long. He authored several proposals to restrict the sport fishery in the Naknek area to protect kings. He pointed out that these sport fishing proposals have been through the last three cycles, but he’s hopeful that this year will be different.
Klutch: “I’ve got 50 years on that river and I think 40 some years on the AC and I attend all the meetings. I follow this. It's part of my life, it's my passion, so sometimes you have to control that. I do my best, but it's in my heart and soul, it's in my son's heart and soul, and now the makers of these proposals. They know what they're seeing. It doesn’t take a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing. We have problems and they need to be addressed.”
D-Permit regulations (42 - 44)
Most people who testified also opposed a proposal to get rid of D-permit regulations, which allow two permit holders to fish on one boat with an extra 50 fathoms of net.
Permit stacking (45 - 47)
Permit stacking is back on the docket this meeting in several proposals. Under those proposals one person can own two permits and fish an extra 50 fathoms of gear.
Many people opposed it, saying that it would be cost prohibitive. Willie Larson opposed it, saying it would reduce opportunities for local people to buy into the fishery.
Larson: "When I started commercial fishing as a permit holder I may not have had the opportunity to earn seasonal income and learn to be a drift commercial fisherman. This proposal would reduce the seasonal employment opportunities for rural permit holders, for some families. This is their only annual income because jobs are scarce in the village."
But some people were also in favor of permit stacking. Abe Williams grew up in the Bristol Bay Borough and still fishes there. He said permit stacking can be a conservation measure, since it would remove gear from the water by consolidating permits under one holder.
Williams: "Stacking, as you've heard from some, is certainly a model that is working in Bristol Bay. We look at it right now, and we see that there's approximately 50 miles of gillnet gear that has been removed from the fishery. And I think that's extremely important considering the fact that we're dealing with a lack of kings and possibly a management regime that's going to address that accordingly when it comes to the fisheries."
The Committee of the Whole began today.
Get in touch with the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
