Senate committee hears second day of testimony from Cook Inlet fishers

  • By Rashah McChesney
  • Wednesday, March 26, 2014 11:22pm
  • News

Testimony continued Wednesday before the Senate Resources committee as representatives from several Upper Cook Inlet and statewide fishing-related organizations testified on perspectives and issues involved in areas fisheries.

Committee chair, Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said the meetings were for informational purposes only and allowed legislators to get a better idea of the utilization of Alaska’s salmon resources.

Among the groups to testify Wednesday were commercial, sport, aquaculture and habitat conservation organizations — each with a unique perspective on what needed to be fixed with salmon management in the Cook Inlet.

Jeff Fox, a retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist spoke on behalf of the United Cook Inlet Drift Association — though Fox said he was neither a commercial fisherman nor a member of the association, which represents commercial drift gillnet fishers.

The UCIDA presentation focused initially on the value of the Cook Inlet commercial fisheries with statistics from a 2013 Northern Economics study.

Fox said that — when managed correctly — Cook Inlet was the fourth largest salmon fishery in the state.

The Cook Inlet commercial fisheries are supposed to be scientifically managed for sustained yield and in a reliable and predictable regulatory environment — two things Fox said were not currently being practiced in the area.

Fox, Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, and Julianne Curry, executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska, each pointed out the economic benefits the fisheries they represented brought to the state.

“All user groups of the salmon resource are important to Alaska’s economy,” Fox said. “We shouldn’t put all of our eggs in the tourism basket.”

Committee vice-chair, Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, was one of the committee members who asked presenters for their perspectives on how the issues could be solved.

“I’ve always wanted to ask the question, what should we do?” Dyson said after Fox’s presentation.

Fox said he didn’t think there were as many problems in the fishery as were indicated by the amount of bickering between user groups.

“I think everybody assumes that there’s a problem in Cook Inlet because people are still fighting about the fish,” Fox said during Dyson’s questions. “That’s not necessarily a problem because that’s just the way salmon fisheries go.”

Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, said fishers in the Mat-Su Valley felt they were not getting the returns of salmon that they used to.

“It’s not an unrealistic expectation for Alaskans to want to catch fish close to home,” Micciche said.

Micciche asked Fox for his top three recommendations to fixing problems in the Mat-Su Valley.

Fox said as fishing pressure rises, the state should consider reducing the bag and possession limits for inriver users and work to make sure ADFG managers could quickly restrict inriver fisheries as the potential for harvest of salmon increases with each new user.

“If you increase harvest ability, you have to be able to close it down rapidly,” he said.

Gary Fandrei, executive director of the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, and Robert Ruffner, executive director of the Kenai Watershed Forum, spoke about ways to address habitat issues and ailing runs of salmon in some of the area watersheds.

Fandrei said the aquaculture association had been actively searching for a way to control invasive northern pike — a fish that is widely thought to have decimated salmon populations in the northern Cook Inlet.

However, pike wasn’t the only problem in some of the fisheries that have seen declining salmon runs, Fandrei said.

He pointed to Shell Lake, a remote lake in the Yentna-Susitna drainage where the aquaculture association noticed a drop in the sockeye salmon population. Originally, the precipitous decline was thought to have been caused by northern pike predation and the aquaculture association started a project to eradicate pike in 2012 — they have harvested nearly 1,000 since then, according to Fandrei’s presentation.

To preserve the genetic lineage of the sockeye population, aquaculture association staff collected about 91,000 eggs and reared them at the Trail Lakes Hatchery and plans to release 70,000 smolt into the lake in 2014.

However, tissue analysis during the process of rehabilitating the lake showed adult salmon to have been infected with two different parasitic infections, one that affects the gills and one that affects the kidneys — both can kill the fish.

“I think that’s a real issue to be looking at in any of these programs, you’ve got multiple things going on and you have to be aware of all of the things that are happening,” Fandrei said.

Ruffner also spoke about pike predation and encouraged lawmakers to focus resources on keeping the fish from spreading onto the Kenai Peninsula.

“The state needs to have a much quicker … rapid response mechanism in place to deal with invasive species,” Ruffner said.

When pike were first found in the Mat-Su Valley, the problem was ignored, he said.

“We’re not going to be able to eradicate pike in the Mat-Su.”

Ruffner said the someone needed to be held accountable for fisheries issues of concern for the state and that the issues failing to get attention are those that required the cooperation of the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Conservation and ADFG.

He cited the federal government’s involvement in listing the Kenai River as an impaired water body when hydrocarbons were measured in excedence of federal standards.

Ruffner said he hoped the federal government would not have to get involved again because of state-level inaction.

One more day of testimony begins Friday at 3:30 p.m. when Charlie Swanton, director of the sport fish division of ADFG, and Tracy Lingnau, central region supervisor for ADFG, are scheduled to give an overview of salmon stocks and management plans in the Upper Cook Inlet.

The hearings can be watched at the Kenai Legislative Information Office or online at http://www.360north.org or http://akl.tv.

Rashah McChesney can be reached at rashah.mcchesney@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read