The State Board of Fisheries this week rejected calls from the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the cities of Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Seward, Seldovia and Kachemak to hold the Upper Cook Inlet regulatory meeting on the Kenai Peninsula for the first time since 1999.
On a 5-1 vote, the board decided to again hold its meeting in Anchorage.
As part of an annual work session on Tuesday, Oct. 29, the board set dates and locations for each of its meetings in the 2026-2027 regulatory cycle. Board Executive Director Art Nelson prepared proposed dates for each meeting, and all were accepted without objection.
The 2027 Upper Cook Inlet meeting will be held over 12 days, from Feb. 25 to March 8, 2027, in Anchorage. If those dates aren’t available, the meeting could instead be held March 4 to 15.
In discussing the venue for the Upper Cook Inlet meeting, member Tom Carpenter, of Cordova, led a motion to again hold the meeting in Anchorage.
Mike Wood, of Talkeetna, objected to “consider a change of venue.”
In the past, Wood said, being from the Matanuska-Susitna region, he’s been in favor of keeping the Upper Cook Inlet meeting in Anchorage — “a neutral spot.” Wood said his thinking has changed during his time on the board as he’s had the opportunity to travel to affected communities and hear from their users.
Wood proposed a rotational model — like one proposed and even adopted by the board in 2018 before being repealed in 2019 — that would have the board visit the Kenai Peninsula and the Mat-Su.
The tensions, Wood said, that may once have dissuaded the board from leaving Anchorage “aren’t there anymore.”
“I appreciate visiting different parts of Alaska and hearing from different people,” Wood said. “Bringing the meeting to their backyard is something that I’m putting forward here.”
“You’re not putting forward anything for people to vote on at this point,” Chair Märit Carlson-Van Dort said, cutting off the remainder of Wood’s speaking as a point of order.
She said that Wood was speaking only to his objection of Carpenter’s motion.
Carpenter said he’s “thought about this quite a bit.” He said he understood that new facilities in Soldotna address previous board concerns about space and amenities, and also said that he favors visiting communities. He said the fishers of Upper Cook Inlet don’t actually reside on the Kenai Peninsula.
Anchorage, on the other hand, “This is where the user groups are.”
He said that, further, many people of the Kenai Peninsula have told him that they prefer to have the meeting in Anchorage.
Carpenter’s statements come after repeated calls on the board by the city and borough governments of the Kenai Peninsula to host a meeting in Soldotna — since at least 2014 — as well as calls from local advisory committees, chambers of commerce, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe and fishing groups like the Kenai Peninsula Fishermen’s Association.
In September, a joint resolution was passed by each of the city councils of the Kenai Peninsula and the borough assembly in support of a formal request by the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District to hold the 2027 meeting in Soldotna at the soon-to-be-completed Soldotna Field House. That request was not discussed during the meeting.
Jordan Chilson, of Soldotna’s council, said during an Aug. 28 meeting that Kenai Peninsula residents deserve to have their voices heard before the board, but that each of their repeated requests have “fallen on deaf ears.”
Member Curtis Chamberlain, of Anchorage, said that Anchorage has a large population and is centrally located. He said he wouldn’t vote against holding a meeting in his city.
Carpenter’s motion to hold the meeting in Anchorage was approved by a 5-1 vote, with only Wood opposed.
The board has declined to meet for an Upper Cook Inlet meeting on the Kenai Peninsula since February and March 1999. Each meeting since then has been held in Anchorage.
The Egan Convention Center, where board meetings are usually held, may not be available during the set dates for the 2027 meeting, Nelson said, so the backup dates may end up being used or the board may have to consider other venues in the city.
A full recording of the Board of Fisheries work session can be found at adfg.alaska.gov.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
