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Just how much more dipnet traffic can Kenai beaches handle?

That's the question the city's chief administrator and a councilman want answered. And, they believe the answer should come from the state.

Since the floodgates opened on the annual personal-use sockeye salmon dipnet fishery, which began in 1982 as an abundance fishery and changed to its current form in 1996, crowds of Alaska residents have grown steadily to the point city officials are calling for relief.

"We didn't ask for this fishery ... the state forced it on us," said Councilman Joe Moore on Thursday morning, while discussing the recent printing of the "2009 Kenai River Dipnet Fishery" report.

"We've been reacting ever since," he said. "It's not Kenai's responsibility to manage this fishery."

Even though the state mandates the fishery, it's the city that annually gets stuck with the bill. The city provides portable rest room facilities for dipnetters and pays to have the portable toilets pumped out several times a day, cleans thousands of fish heads from city beaches every night, patrols the beaches and boat launch areas with uniformed Kenai police and seasonal enforcement officers and responds to medical emergencies on an as-needed basis.

Additionally, the city has incurred capital expense to regulate traffic along Kenai Avenue, build a permanent rest room facility near the Spruce Street parking lot and install a wooden-post and linked-chain fence around the sand dunes to protect the environmentally sensitive habitat.

By charging a fee for dipnetters to park, camp and launch private boats during the annual July fishery, the city has shown a profit in most years, but according to City Manager Rick Koch, it's money the city could do without if the dipnet fishery did not exist.

The current year report shows the city spent $211,754.52 on the fishery and took in $254,962 from north beach and south beach parking and city dock fees -- a gain of $43,207.48. The expenditures figure includes about $40,000 in grant money the city received for dune fencing.

The profit isn't worth it, according to Koch.

"If I were a businessman, I would not tolerate this level of risk," he said.

"Three years ago, when (the Alaska Department of) Fish and Game shut down the fishery, we lost $100,000," he said.

"The state told us the fishery was going to be open; we went ahead and rented all the outhouses and hired the SEOs; and then when they didn't make their escapement, they shut it down," he said, referring to Fish and Game.

To illustrate a lack of communication between the state and city government, Koch said, "They assured me the fishery would not reopen. I sent all the outhouses back and they called me on Friday and said, 'We made our escapement and we're going to reopen dipnetting.'

"I said they can't do that to us on that short of a notice. 'Wait at least until Monday.' They said they would and on my way home that night, I heard on the radio that dipnetting was open. They never even called us," Koch said.

He said the city would be OK with providing the portable toilets and is OK with providing a police presence, but said it really should not be the city's job to manage the fishery -- manage the fish waste, check dipnet permits and regulate the number of people on the beaches.

"The state needs to manage the capacities in some manner," Koch said.

The state believes it is. But to the state, management means what Fish and Game is already doing -- issuing the dipnet permits, setting boundaries for the fishery and monitoring regulation compliance.

Fish and Game sport fish area management biologist for the Northern Kenai Peninsula Robert Begich said if people would spread out over the entire area dipnetting is allowed rather than crowding at the mouth of the Kenai River, the problems encountered by the city would be mitigated.

"One interesting observation is the Kenai area is under-utilized," Begich said.

"People can go three nautical miles along the beach in one direction and two miles in the other," he said. "Instead, they all congregate at the mouth."

He said the department tries to emphasize that in the sport fishing regulation booklet and on the Fish and Game Web site.

Begich said the fishery took its present form in 1996. Rather than have action points at which determinations were made, the Board of Fish made the fishery operate on a more dependable, reliable timetable, setting the opening on July 10 and the closing on July 31.

Several public proposals to change that came to the board in 2006, but none was acted on, he said.

One would have started the fishery based on an in-river passage of sockeyes; one set other start and stop dates; one involved bag limit changes and some recommended lengthening or shortening the number of hours people could dipnet.

Fish and Game does perform compliance monitoring, mostly on the Kenai River, Begich said, making sure dipnetters accurately record their catch, mark their fish, meet residency requirements and are using the proper outboard motor on the river.

The city wants more involvement from the state.

"We want the state to handle the fish waste, handle enforcement, do data collection, monitor the carrying capacity -- not just the fish count but the impact on the resource," Koch said.

He and Councilman Moore questioned why the Salamatof Seafoods fish processor across the river was fined last year for discharging fish waste not ground to less than 1-inch in diameter, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation does nothing about thousands of fish heads left lying on the beaches by dipnetters.

"I'm astounded DEC says nothing," Koch said.

"If the city council is concerned, DEC is concerned," said Weld Royal, DEC public information officer. "We would welcome suggestions from the city council."

Regarding the Salamatof fine, Royal said, "It was a (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) investigation and an EPA fine."

The company was cited for violations of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. DEC has since taken over that program.

"Our regulations treat commercial processors and individuals differently," Royal said. "Processors are required to have waste-water permits; individuals are not."

Koch said he has asked City Attorney Krista Stearns to look into whether the city can legally cite people for littering if they throw fish heads and other fish waste on the beach.

"The whole environmental issue is an example of how no planning went into this fishery," said Moore.

In an attempt to limit the number of dipnetters in Kenai, the city has raised the amount it charges to park at the beaches and the boat launch to $15. Koch said he plans to recommend changing that to $20 next year.

"Regardless of what we charge, the state has an obligation to identify what those impacts are ... the carrying capacity," he said.

When asked if he would like to see the dipnet fishery eliminated, Koch selected his words carefully.

"The city council has never taken a position on that," he said.

"The state was irresponsible when it created this fishery," Koch said. "We want people to come here. We want people to fish."

Phil Hermanek can be reached at phillip.hermanek@peninsulaclarion.com.