I am responding to an article that talks about an attorney who wants to stop dipnetting. My question is how mean spirited can a person get?

He represents commercial fishing interests, yet is calling for a closure of the kenai personal-use fishery under the guise of habitat protection? Most commercial guys I know respect the fact that Alaska residents want some fish to fill the freezer.

In 2007, 21,000 residents applied for a PU dipnet permit. Two thousand were from Kenai, 2,000 were from Soldotna, 2,000 were from Homer, yada, yada, yada ... . Not all of Anchorage was descending on your doormat. Please let me remind you that the consumptive user generated more than 600 million compared to 18 million from commercial fishing of salmon.

If you want to limit dipnetting, don't use the beaches as a tool to "save the dunes." Three weeks of dipnetting compared to six months of ice and storm damage to the beaches does not make a calamity. If you want to make an allocation grab, don't wrap yourself in trying to save the dunes.

Ken Federico

Wasilla