A judge has issued an order reversing Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell's rejection of a proposed ballot initiative to ban commercial setnets in Cook Inlet and elsewhere.
It means Alaska voters could have a chance to vote on the ban, which supporters believe is necessary to protect king salmon.
Assistant Attorney General Lance Nelson tells Deckboss: "The state will go through its normal evaluation process before deciding whether to appeal the ruling."
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2 comments:
Enjoy it Alaska, don't bitch your getting what we have been going through for years in oregon and washington and have been telling you for years, watch out the sport industry will get you. You always said in return, this is Alaska we have lots of fish for everyone, no you don't. For years I've seen box after box of fish from lodges and sport game pigs loading up airport luggage ramps. But no you love the "money they bring in" now your going to have to fight to keep your job as a game hog sport guy smiles at you with a guide who is going to take your job.. Have fun with it...
Regrettably this is may be the beginning of the end for set net fishing on the Kenai! With the decision by the judge and the closure of the river because of low abundance of kings the values of their businesses are bound to fall. People will start selling and it might be a smart move. And, even though an initiative will be an expensive battle, the large population base in south central alaska will be far more than enough to overcome the small voting blocks in the fishing communities. That's a fact that they seem unwilling to recognize. The ESSN crowd had a chance to be part of the solution at the UCI meeting but resisted all attempts to find ways to stay off the kings. They were insulting to the sports users who were present in large numbers. they were insulting to Dept staff. And they were even insulting to BOF members.This season they admitted to 'rolling " kings on several occasions in their outdoor forum blog and were criticized by the Dept for doing so. Yet they persisted. How many kings were killed in this manner is unknown just as how many were not reported. They are their own worst enemy. The drift fleet can harvest as many sockeye as are needed and when added to the dip net and sports harvest will keep the sockeye within range of the upper escapement goal. Is it time to end the problem? Probably: yes.
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