In an announcement last week, the public is reminded a comment deadline for proposed changes to fisheries management is quickly coming up.
The Board of Fisheries, the regulatory body charged with oversight over the state’s fisheries management will gather in Sitka on January 11 for a 13-day meeting, during which it will consider 153 proposals specific to finfish and shellfish issues in Southeast Alaska and Yakutat.
Proposals come from the board itself, the Department of Fish and Game, fishing organizations and the general public, and comments are already being collected. Ahead of the sessions, the Wrangell Advisory Committee to the board held several meetings over the past month to review the proposals. Made up of local fishermen, guides and other interested individuals, the Wrangell group is one of many local ACs around the state which each year contribute to management oversight by both the boards of Fish and of Game.
Among shellfish items it weighed in on for the upcoming meeting was Proposal 235, a late addition to the packet which would repeal the Southeast Alaska management plan for Dungeness crab, adopting instead fixed-length summer and fall seasons. Put forward by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, the proposal would put the fishery in line with other regions, which have fixed schedules, and be an update to the current plan, which is based on outdated data.
The Wrangell AC agreed in a majority vote, encouraging the change. Members supported fixed-length summer and fall fishing seasons because crab depredation by sea otters over the past couple of decades has changed designated fishing areas to such a degree.
The local AC had also voted in favor of Proposal 54, reducing the maximum number of commercial pots for Dungeness crab to 240 pots per vessel. The current maximum is 300. The group discouraged adoption of Proposal 63, allowing an exploratory commercial fishery for red king crab.
It also recommended an amended version of Proposal 76, establishing a minimum mesh size requirement for shrimp pots. The AC recommended extending the requirement to subsistence and personal-use users, as well as adding a limitation to the number of shrimp a license holder can take in a day to five gallons.
Members were against another proposal, 79, which would repeal the winter commercial shrimp fishery, modifying the season to avoid catch of egg-bearing shrimp. In discussion of the item, the AC felt such a change would disrupt the data set ADFG is in the process of developing for managing the shrimp fishery.
The Board of Fish will also be dealing with finfish issues, which is anticipated to take up most of its two-week meeting next month. To minimize costs for the public and to the agencies involved, the board has consolidated its shellfish and finfish sessions to consecutive meetings. For each session the board will cover separately any ethics disclosures, staff reports, oral public testimony, committees and deliberations.
Among the finfish measures it provided comment to, Wrangell AC was in favor of 195 and 196, together establishing annual limits for nonresidents catching sockeye salmon in salt or fresh Southeast waters. Members were also in favor of Proposal 175, establishing a possession restriction for king salmon applying to vessels participating in the enhanced chum troll. Their decision was reached due to kings’ recent management as a species of concern.
A full copy of the 2017-18 fisheries proposal book is available online at the ADFG website, at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.proposalbook. The board is still accepting public comment on the proposals through December 28. Those received by that point will be included in its workbook at the meeting. Comments received afterward up through the end of next month’s meeting will be limited to 10 single-sided or five double-sided pages from any individual or group, to be distributed separately.
In addition to submitting written public comments, the public is invited to give oral testimony during the meeting. Shellfish proposals begins review January 11, with finfish starting January 15. Any person intending to testify must sign up at the meeting site at the Harrigan Centennial Hall in Sitka by 2 p.m. at the sessions’ start.
All portions of the meeting will be open to the public and a live audio stream is intended to be available on the Board of Fisheries website at http://www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. Copies of advanced meeting materials, including the agenda and roadmap, are available from boards support section, either by calling 465-4110 or visiting http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo.
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