42°

Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, who was named Friday to the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force, said the legislative group formed to examine ways to reduce allocation conflicts in the inlet's Northern District appeared heavily weighted with Anchorage and Mat-Su state lawmakers.

Wagoner is the only representative from the Kenai Peninsula asked to serve on a panel that is likely to touch on highly charged, controversial areas of debate. During the recently completed legislative session, valley lawmakers suggested commercial fishermen in the inlet were intercepting fish headed to the Susitna and Yentna Rivers and that the Board of Fisheries and Department of Fish and Game were not doing the job of allocating resources equitably.

Peninsula state lawmakers disputed that view.

Senate President Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, and House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, named the members of the task force. Green named herself as one of five senators and the task force's vice-chairwoman. Harris did not take a seat from the House side.

Also on the panel are Sens. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, and Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, as well as Reps. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage (chairman), Kyle Johansen, R-Ketchikan, Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak/Mat-Su, and Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage.

Wagoner initially opposed the idea of a legislative task force, saying it was poor policy to have politicians making fisheries allocation recommendations rather than Board of Fisheries members acting with the advice of biologists. At first, he was conflicted about serving on the panel.

"Then I decided that if asked I would. Somebody from this area needs to represent commercial fishing and processing in this debate," he said. "That's a very important part of the Cook Inlet economy, when you look at the jobs."

The task force could lead to a discussion Alaska needs to have, Wagoner predicted.

"There will be some very definite points made as to who is and isn't a commercial fisherman," he said. "It is time the state took a real hard look at how you define fishing guides."

For him, there is no essential difference between the way a guide uses state fish resources and the way a setnet or driftnet commercial fisherman does.

"They're just using different gear types," he said.

While he acknowledged the panel seemed weighted to Anchorage and the Mat-Su, he also said he liked many of those on the task force.

"There are some people on there with some background in the resource and how it is used," he said.

Wagoner said he thought it odd that Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, a commercial fisherman, wasn't asked. However, Seaton said Friday that he had informed Speaker Harris early on that he did not want to serve, largely because he disagreed with the approach.

"I guess I do not see a reasonable proposition for going forward to accomplish anything from the task force," he said, adding that the Board of Fisheries already was engaged in gathering scientific information regarding escapement into the Susitna and Yentna drainages, but that that information won't even be available by the time the task force must deliver its recommendations to the full Legislature at the opening of the 26th Legislature in January.

Some of the three-year studies, which include tagging, weir counts and testing the effectiveness of sonar counters, are only in their second year. The task force was putting "the cart before the horse," Seaton said.

Although conclusions cannot yet be drawn, preliminary numbers appear to show that sonar counters have undercounted the numbers of fish getting into the Susitna and Yentna Rivers, Seaton said. If that proves out, it could be an important factor into future decisions about escapement levels set for fisheries farther south in Cook Inlet.

Hal Spence can be reached at hspence@ptialaska.net.