32-foot limit stays

The Alaska Board of Fisheries today rejected a proposal to eliminate the 32-foot length limit on salmon driftnet boats in Bristol Bay.

Proposal 15 failed on a 3-3 vote.

Board members voting in favor of the proposal were Bill Brown, Howard Delo and John Jensen.

Voting against were Karl Johnstone, Mel Morris and Janet Woods.

Vince Webster, a Bristol Bay permit holder, abstained.

I'll have more later on other major board votes today.

Crunch time

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is bearing down on the finish of its big Bristol Bay meeting, and we might see a vote today on the hottest item: Proposal 15, which would eliminate the 32-foot length limit on driftnet boats.

A board subcommittee already has hashed through the pros and cons, and naturally no consensus was reached.

This will be a tough call, and the outcome is uncertain considering the new members we have on the board since the last time the 32-foot limit came up.

Here's a Deckboss prediction: The proposal won't pass. It might not even come to an actual vote.

Changing the longstanding length limit seems like a pretty fundamental step for the state's top salmon fishery, and rural Alaska interests are opposed.

They believe fishermen from Lower 48 cities would have an advantage in converting to a larger and potentially more competitive boat because they have better access to financing and boatyards.

So, no, I don't see Proposal 15 passing. The board might go with something like a study committee, however.

Anyway, I'll update you with the outcome just as soon as I know it.

Another perspective on the 32-foot limit

As noted in my last post, the state Board of Fisheries soon will consider whether to eliminate the longstanding 32-foot vessel length limit in the state's biggest salmon fishery at Bristol Bay.

In the past, I suppose I always considered this proposal rather narrowly.

Could an aggressive fisherman pack more sockeye than his competitors? Could he add chilling or even processing equipment to maximize the value of his catch?

Or might a bigger boat allow the bay's more boorish players to simply bully smaller boats off the line?

Well, on my recent visit to Seattle I ran into a fisherman who broadened my perspective a little. He made two points I'd never considered before.

First, he said bigger boats wouldn't necessarily offer an advantage, as they would have a deeper draft and couldn't fish shallow waters like lighter boats.

Second, a bigger vessel might offer fishermen more versatility. For example, the boat could be used not only to net sockeye at Bristol Bay, but also to work in waters or fisheries such as halibut that ideally require more size.

Deckboss is confident plenty more points will be made at the board's Dec. 1-8 meeting at the downtown Hilton hotel in Anchorage.