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Testimony for five federal subsistence fishing proposals, all pertaining to the Kenai Peninsula, will be presented at the Southcentral Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting, scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday in Tazlina.

The Ninilchik Traditional Council submitted two proposals that will be heard at the meeting.

With federal proposal 09-07, Ninilchik is once again seeking approval to be allowed to harvest resident-species fish in the federal waters of the Kenai River. This issue was brought before the Federal Subsistence Board last year and denied with a 3-to-3 vote.

Ninilchik residents already have subsistence permits to fish for salmon on the Kenai River and to take salmon and resident species from the Kasilof River.

"I just don't want them catching all the other species," said Gary Dawkins, chair of the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee.

The AC voted against supporting this proposal at its Sept. 16 meeting.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game also opposes FP09-07.

"No new information is presented in the proposal or in the federal staff analysis which justifies reversing the 2007 federal board (customary and traditional use) determination," according to a written statement.

The Traditional Council also wants to allow dipnetting from the banks of the Kenai River at the Moose Range Meadows site. Currently, only dipnetting from a boat is permitted. This proposal, FP09-08, also was denied with a 3-to-3 vote at last year's Subsistence Board meeting.

The AC, too, voted in opposition of this proposal.

According to Dawkins, the site in question has always been a sportfishing hole. He said it's difficult for two different user groups to fish next to one another. Nowhere else on the Kenai River are dipnetters and sport fishermen side by side, Dawkins said. He said he doesn't want someone to be allowed to dipnet beside a sport fisherman.

State managers also oppose this proposal.

"The mixing of gear types and user groups that would result from adoption of this proposal would likely cause elevated social conflicts, enforcement issues and displacement of current users."

Several calls to the Ninilchik Traditional Council for comment on this story were not returned.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, with FP09-06, proposes clarifying the regulations surrounding the retention of steelhead/rainbow trout on the Kenai Peninsula.

The proposal states that no one person be allowed to keep more than two steelhead/rainbow trout greater than 20 inches in length. The proposal would include state and federal limits. If passed, this proposal would prevent any angler sport, commercial or subsistence user from retaining more than two steelhead/rainbow trout more than 20 inches in length for the year.

An angler could keep two under the state limit, or two under the federal limit, or one under each, but could not keep more than two trout measuring more than 20 inches total, regardless which waters the fish was caught in.

Regarding subsistence fishing, the current regulation says residents of Ninilchik may retain up to 200 steelhead/rainbow trout of any size. Fish and Game is proposing to change the regulation to state the annual, peninsulawide limit of two fish more than 20 inches in length per year per person apply to the Kasilof federal subsistence dipnet fishery, said George Pappas, program coordinator for Fish and Game's sport and commercial fisheries divisions.

"For example, if a federal subsistence Kasilof dipnet fishery participant caught two rainbow/steelhead trout over 20 inches in length, he or she could not keep any more rainbow/steelhead trout over 20 inches in any other fishery but could keep on dipnetting and keep smaller fish, less than 20 inches," Pappas said. "If the same person wanted to go sport fishing at a later date, he or she could not retain any rainbow/steelhead over 20 inches in length. Two hundred fish can come from the fishery but participants in the fishery cannot keep more than two rainbow trout over 20 inches length."

The proposal also seeks to clarify grayling and burbot regulations for the peninsula. Burbot and grayling will not be part of federal subsistence use on the Kenai Peninsula.

"It will not change the current use of the sport/recreational or commercial use of rainbow trout, steelhead trout, grayling or burbot as this is consistent with present state of Alaska regulations," according to the proposal.

The AC and state support this proposal.

Dawkins said it was a "housekeeping proposal" that makes the regulations easier to understand for all user groups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has two proposals being discussed at the RAC meeting.

The first proposal deals with clarifying existing regulations. For all fish that have to be marked and recorded on a permit, "They must be marked and recorded prior to leaving the fishing site," according to the proposal. "The fishing site includes the particular federal public waters and/or adjacent shoreline from which the fish were harvested."

Incidentally caught fish also must be recorded on the permit "before transporting fish from the fishing site."

Residents of Hope, Cooper Landing and Ninilchik must return their permits to the federal fisheries manager by the due date that is listed on the permit. Currently, the regulation states the permits must be returned at the end of the season.

Also, the current regulation states that Ninilchik residents can take salmon on the upper mainstream of the Kasilof River from a federal regulatory marker on the river below the Tustumena Lake outlet downstream to a marker at Silver Salmon Rapids.

The proposal would change the language to say that Ninilchik residents can fish from the Tustumena outlet down to a marker on the river about 2.8 miles below the Tustumena Lake boat ramp.

This, too, is a "housekeeping proposal," said Jerry Berg, subsistence coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage.

Berg said there was a lot of confusion between anglers and the Wildlife Service wanted to clarify the regulation.

Dawkins and the AC also support FP09-09. Dawkins said he likes the fact that this proposal, if passed, would force anglers to mark their fish before leaving the fishing site. He said fish need to be recorded and documented so Fish and Game can collect accurate data.

The second U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal, FP09-10, deals with the early run king salmon and lake trout.

For the early run Chinook salmon, Fish and Wildlife is proposing to change the low end of the slot limit from 44 inches to 46 inches, making any fish less than 46 inches or more than 55 inches a legal fish.

For Hidden Lake, the daily trout limit now is four per day and four in possession, regardless of size. The proposal would bring the limit down to two per day and two in possession, regardless of size.

Similar changes in the early run king salmon slot limit and Hidden Lake harvest limit were made by the Alaska Board of Fisheries in February Berg said.

The AC voted to support this proposal.

Fish and Game, too, is in support, however, the department is requesting two modifications be made.

They want the proposal to state that two trout may be retained per day, but only one exceeding 20 inches in length. They also want the early run bag limit reduced from two to one.

All federal proposals can be viewed on the subsistence board's Web site at http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/board.cfml.

Mike Nesper can be reached at mike.nesper@peninsulaclarion.com.