Citing COVID-19 concerns and weather-related transportation worries, the state has postponed the 12-day Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting that was scheduled to have started Tuesday at the civic center in Ketchikan.
The meeting to consider more than 150 proposed changes to state management regulations for finfish and shellfish in Southeast Alaska and Yakutat already had been postponed from January 2021 because of COVID-19 issues.
Last Friday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the 2022 meeting would proceed in Ketchikan with a site-specific mitigation plan developed by the state with “considerable advice and assistance” from a Ketchikan oversight group comprised of “local and statewide experts.”
However, on Saturday, the Fisheries Board announced that the meeting was being postponed, with a date and location to be determined later.
“The meeting will be postponed out of an abundance of caution due to the record-breaking rise of COVID-19 cases in the United States, and a concerning sharp rise in Southeast Alaska,” Saturday’s announcement said.
“With the rise in cases post the holiday season, already key staff have contracted COVID-19 and are unable to participate. In addition, the nation and Alaska are facing serious transportation difficulties as weather and the pandemic are seriously hampering travel in the near-term.”
The announcement said the Department of Fish and Game and the Board of Fisheries “take to heart“ concerns expressed by health care professionals who participated in the Ketchikan oversight group.
“Conducting this intensely public, 12-day meeting with potential attendance of over 200 people from around the state has the potential to cause a significant case spike in Ketchikan and lead to overrunning its hospital capacity already expected to strain from local infections from the holiday season,” the postponement announcement said.
The meeting agenda included board consideration of rules for non-guided sport fishing by non-residents to the Sitka Sound herring sac roe fishery.
The Alaska Trollers Association had requested a delay in the meeting, highlighting the importance of public participation in board meetings.
“We have heard from members that they are wary of participating in the Ketchikan meeting because of ongoing health threats and the already stressed medical facilities in Ketchikan,” ATA Executive Director Amy Daugherty wrote to the board in October.
“At this time … the ATA board considers an in-person meeting a public health threat. Therefore, we respectfully ask for a meeting delay until January 2023.”
The Juneau-based group Territorial Sportsmen also requested a delay.
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