Who is catching whose fish? That's the question that'll be left to the state Board of Fisheries to sort out at its meeting in Anchorage this week.
The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting in Anchorage this week to discuss finfish in the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands and Chigniks. Today, the board heard staff reports and then began taking public testimony. Of the 59 proposals up for consideration this week, many pit Area M and Bristol Bay fisherman against each other, continuing years of disagreement over who’s catching whose fish.
Some of those proposals were submitted by the Concerned Area M Fishermen, a group that generally wants to protect, or enhance, fishing opportunity in the Alaska Peninsula area.
Pat Martin is a member of that group, and spoke in favor of proposal 149, which would create a new sockeye fishery in the Cinder River section, on the Northern Alaska Peninsula. That fishery would catch a mix of stocks - some from Bristol Bay, some Cinder River sockeye, which generally have a large escapement and are not targeted in another fishery, and some from other parts of the Alaska Peninsula.
“All of these fish are a common property resource of the state. The closure of the Cinder River sockeye fishery has had the effect of creating a marine sanctuary with a single interest group as the beneficiary: Bristol Bay stakeholders. The vision of the founders was that all resources should be utilized for the benefit of the people as a whole, and explicitly not for the benefit of a single class. Remember that sockeye leaving Bristol Bay are the size of your thumb, with zero market value. They gain all of their market value outside the waters of Bristol Bay. They breed ‘em, we feed ‘em.”
Bristol Bay area advisory committees mostly opposed that proposal, including the Lower Bristol Bay AC.
Lower Bristol Bay AC Chair Mitch Seybert said his AC believed it the new fishery could cause an escapement issue for the Ugashik District, and that fishermen there could suffer if it were enacted.
"It would provide a harvest of a lot of Ugashik and Bristol Bay fish stocks, which is the true intent of this proposal," he said.
Other proposals up for discussion at the meeting could change the boundary between Bristol Bay and the Alaska Peninsula - that's been supported by many in Bristol Bay and was proposed by those who live near the line, but opposed by Area M fishermen - and adjust other management in the area.
The meeting continues Wednesday morning with more public comment; about 140 people were signed up to testify. A live stream and other meeting information is available on the board's website.
