Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, in this three-page letter, takes the Alaska Trollers Association to task for public statements the organization made regarding Chinook salmon.
For the commissioner to say ATA wants the regulations to remain as they were the last few years is just wrong. The lack of inseason management for the out-of-state charter fisheries was a direct result of the department's decisions and it clearly was a bad move. What ATA is advocating for is resident priority in the sport fishery, inseason management of the sport fishery and to maintain the historical 80/20 king salmon allocation split between troll and sport fisheries. The potential treaty issues arise from the 3% transfer of allocation, as well as the ability to inseason transfer allocation from the net fisheries, possibly shifting the harvest timing of the king salmon allocation.
For the commissioner to say ATA wants the regulations to remain as they were the last few years is just wrong. The lack of inseason management for the out-of-state charter fisheries was a direct result of the department's decisions and it clearly was a bad move. What ATA is advocating for is resident priority in the sport fishery, inseason management of the sport fishery and to maintain the historical 80/20 king salmon allocation split between troll and sport fisheries. The potential treaty issues arise from the 3% transfer of allocation, as well as the ability to inseason transfer allocation from the net fisheries, possibly shifting the harvest timing of the king salmon allocation.
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