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The personal-use dipnet fishery at the mouth of the Kenai River has become a minor municipal nightmare for Kenai city officials.

What began years ago as a small gathering of folks hoping to top off their season's catch has grown into an annual hip-wader wearing, dune stomping, Porta-Potty needing mob.

Over the years the city has erected fencing to corral the deluge and protect the dunes. It's built a permanent rest room facility and supplies additional portable toilets. The city cleans thousands of fish heads from the city beaches every night, has police patrol the beaches and boat launch areas and provides emergency medical service.

Parking and dock fees do cover the dollar expense. The 2009 Kenai River Dipnet Fishery report given to the city council last month shows the city spent more than $211,000 managing the mess last year, and took in more than $250,000 in parking and dock fees.

You could look at the resulting profit and wonder what the city has to complain about. But City Manager Rick Koch says it's not worth the trouble.

We tend to agree.

The conflict seems to be how the city and the state define the phrase, "managing the fishery."

For the state, managing means deciding when and where people can fish. In fact, state Fish and Game officials contend that the problem would be at least partially alleviated if dipnetters used all the beach area available to them instead of concentrating on just the river mouth.

To the city, the definition of managing the fishery means more than just telling folks, "Go fish." It means also dealing with the inevitable mess.

We think the city's definition is more accurate. A little more cooperation and assistance from the state would be appreciated.