King Troll Opener
Dear Editor: Thanks to Sitkans and many others across Southeast, both of the traditional summer king salmon troll openers have now been successfully completed.
As a commercial troller, I want to thank the Assembly and all Sitkans for contributing quickly and generously to the legal defense of the troll fishery last spring. When a lawsuit based on an absurd premise threatened to suspend the summer and winter troll Chinook fisheries, the Sitka Assembly, Seafood Producers Cooperative, Sitka Sound Seafoods, Silver Bay Seafoods, the Elks Lodge, NSRAA, LFS the Hames Corporation, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, Sitka Conservation Society and many other businesses, organizations and individuals came forward to defend the 100-plus-year-old fishery that sustains much of rural Southeast.
Thanks to these contributions, the legal team from the Alaska Trollers Association, along with lawyers from the state of Alaska and National Marine Fisheries Service were able to win a last-minute stay of the ruling so the Chinook troll fishery could proceed as normal. This averted what would have been a huge economic disaster for trollers and the entire region, as prices for other salmon species have fallen severely to the point that even before the recently-concluded second king opener, Chinook accounted for 60 percent of the value of the summer troll catch.
As a public body, the Assembly’s contribution was made on behalf of all of us. Sitkans should know that their investment was quickly repaid. Sitka’s share of the raw fish tax on king salmon from the July troll opener alone totaled more than the city’s financial contribution. Estimating the total amount of sales tax attributable to the fishery is difficult, but I have already paid $500 in sales tax this year on local purchases directly related to my commercial fishing efforts, and I am but one of 250 power troll permit holders who live in Sitka.
Thank you to all Sitkans for your part in defending the troll fishery and rural Southeast.
Tad Fujioka, FV Sakura, Sitka
Consumer Scam
Dear Editor: I am ashamed to admit it, but I fell for another Corporate American scam, prepackaged chicken thighs coming into Sitka frozen.
You would think I would have learned my lesson long ago how life works in Sitka and the meat industry.
I bought about four pounds of chicken thighs for $8 advertised as $1.99/pound. When I thawed them out there was three pounds of chicken thighs and one pound of packaging. That means I paid $8 for three pounds of chicken and bones, which comes out to $2.67 per pound, not $1.99 as advertised.
I suppose, given the many empty shelves in our grocery stores, I should just be glad there is anything to buy at all in the stores given the obvious inadequate stock control.
I do often wonder about the shelves empty of sale items during tourist season. Caveat emptor.
Bill Marx, Sitka
