Dozens of people from around Alaska turned out for the Board of Fisheries' worksession to comment on fisheries issues Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Dozens of people from around Alaska turned out for the Board of Fisheries' worksession to comment on fisheries issues Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Board of Fish finalizes recommendations on fish habitat permitting

Add to the Legislature’s agenda this session a request for reconsideration of the state’s fish habitat permitting process.

The state Board of Fisheries, the body that sets regulations on state-overseen fisheries, voted to send a letter to the Legislature at its Kodiak meeting, held Jan. 10–Jan. 13 recommending the state review Title 16 of the Alaska Statute, which addresses how the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game should issue permits in streams determined to be fish habitat.

Any activity that may use, divert, obstruct or change the natural flow of a body of water determined to be fish habitat requires a permit, granted by the commissioner of Fish and Game. The current statute says the commissioner shall grant a permit unless an activity is deemed “insufficient for the proper protection of fish and game.”

The request was born out of a non-regulatory proposal submitted to the board for its 2016/2017 cycle by a group of 13 citizens of various user groups in fisheries. The proposal asked broadly that the Board of Fisheries recommend the state review the policies. Specifically, the requesters wanted the Legislature to recommend criteria to determine what “the proper protection of fish and game” means. Several of the authors and supporters, commenting at a public Board of Fisheries worksession held in Soldotna in October 2016, asked the board to recommend a change that would require the commissioner of Fish and Game to consider a stream anadromous until proven otherwise if it is not included in the Anadromous Waters Catalog.

The letter, sent to Senate President Pete Kelly and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, made two recommendations for revision — improving public notification and opportunities for public comment on fish habitat permit and developing enforceable standards for what constitutes “the proper protection of fish and game.”

“Additional guidance is warranted for the protection of fish, to set clear expectation for permit applicants and to reduce uncertainty in predevelopment planning costs,” the letter states.

For public notification, the board noted that there was significant public concern that local residents weren’t always aware when the state was considering issuing a fish habitat permit nearby. The average time between when an application is received and the permit is granted is four days, according to the letter.

“There are undoubtedly nuances to this efficient permitting that must be considered, and improved notification to the public for certain activities is in the public’s best interest,” the letters states. “Additionally, tracking permitted activities by geo-referenced location would facilitated better consideration of cumulative impacts.”

Several of the members of the Board of Fisheries worked to develop a draft after a joint meeting of the board’s habitat and legislative committees the night before the board met in Homer for its Lower Cook Inlet meeting in November. The one element removed from the draft letter before approval was the presumption of anadromous waters.

Lindsey Bloom, a fisheries consultant with a background in commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska, submitted the proposal on behalf of the group of authors. She said the authors were fairly pleased with the outcome from the Board of Fisheries.

“I think we’re all really happy with the outcome,” she said.

One of the driving factors for the request was plans for megaprojects or mining development in salmon habitat like the now-mothballed Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project or the proposed Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay region. One of the authors, Soldotna resident and Cook Inlet commercial fisher Willow King, said in a press release about the proposal that Title 16 should be updated to reflect growing development in Alaska.

“Alaskans never could have imagined megaprojects like Pebble Mine when they drafted salmon protections into Title 16 more than six decades ago,” King said. “We need to update this law to protect the salmon runs that are so culturally and economically important to our state. Alaskans, tribes and local governments also need a voice in permitting decisions on projects that significantly impact salmon runs.”

Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Snow coats an eroding bluff near the mouth of the Kenai River on Friday, March 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai accepting bids on bluff stabilization project

The announcement means that contractors can start submitting their proposals for how they’d complete the work and how much it would cost to do so

A stack of the Seward Journal is pictured. The town’s only daily newspaper published its last edition Nov. 27. (Photo via Seward Journal Facebook page)
‘A thing of the past’

Seward Journal calls it quits after struggle to keep newspaper afloat

Tim Navarre and Dana Cannava discuss a preliminary Soldotna route for the Kahtnu Area Transit with Planner Bryant Wright at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Getting people where they need to go

Plans for Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Kahtnu Area Transit move forward

A state plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
DOT identifies roads included in brine reduction plan

The department said its goal is to reduce brine use overall in the region by 40%

Soldotna High School senior Josiah Burton testifies in opposition to the proposed cut of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District theater technicians while audience members look on during a board of education meeting on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
School board finance group reviews expenditures ahead of upcoming budget cycle

As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District prepares to grapple with another… Continue reading

Members of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee raise hands to vote in favor of a proposal during a meeting at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver salmon, personal use fishing discussed by advisory committee

The group set their recommendations on a variety of proposals to the State Board of Fisheries

Hoses pump water along Patrick Drive to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough spent almost $78k responding to flood events during disaster declaration

Most of the funds were spend in the northwest area of Kalifornsky Beach Road

The National Weather Service’s map shows a winter weather advisory, in orange, effective for much of the eastern Kenai Peninsula. (Screenshot)
Heavy snow, blowing winds forecast for Turnagain Pass on Wednesday

Snow accumulations of up to 16 inches are expected

The Kenai Courthouse is seen on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Grand jury adds charges in October killing of Homer woman

The indictment was delivered on Nov. 8

Most Read