Regarding Les Palmer’s July 3 column: Sunny days, giant kings, smiley clients, all rare. Part of a glorious past. P.T. Barnum and Soapy Smith would be proud of the web sites and glossy brochures. Here might be considered a couple more scams:
The City of Kenai has the dipnet fishery under control? Buy some more tractors.
The Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Association counts dipnetters as tourists. Aren’t they residents?
The Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board, a government board, protects the river with Ben from KRSA, Ricky from KRSA, Andy, a guide, and Joe from KRSA and setnetter initiative backer. How? KRSA is a non-profit? I want an independent audit. Hook and release where giant kings spawn not only harms kings, they do not spawn, and has resulted in shrinkage of the genetic giants. One of my less tolerant colleagues blurts “go BS a stranger!” The guides have. KRSA has. KRSMA has.
The tourists are not the victims here. The king salmon are the victims. Whoever cannot see that is living in a fool’s paradise.
Finally consider a regulatory process that occurs every three years that panders to opportunity and re-allocation, rather than considering regulations consistent with the life cycles of these fish in order to determine the effect or impact of those regs. Most anyone can scam a tourist but the guides and KRSA are so professional it conjures up an uncontrollable surge of envy. In fact I think it criminal to prey on the eager, weak, and gullible.
Palmer got it right! Way past time to protect the king salmon.