Chinook Plan
Dear Editor: Contrary to the headline (Sentinel Jan. 24, 2018) the “Fishing Fleet” is not satisfied with the final Chinook Plan. Trollers aren’t. The charter industry is.
As a result of the winter season closing six weeks early trollers will lose approximately $3,500,000 in ex-vessel value in March and April. Most of the king salmon caught in this period are in the Sitka area. This is a significant loss to Sitka’s economy. Using a typical multiplier of 3X that represents a loss to Sitka of over $10,000,000 in economic activity during the otherwise economically slow period of late winter.
Trollers know (from ADFG) that Unuk River stocks aren’t present in the Sitka area until the last two weeks in April. It is the Unuk River Action Plan (UAP) that closes winter trolling 6 weeks early. The entire troll fishery consists of an annual average of 10 percent AK wilds. The entire SEAK sport harvest annual average is 19 percent AK wilds. The sport harvest in the Ketchikan area (Unuk River) has an annual average harvest of 29 percent AK wilds (Data from Mixed Stock Analysis (MSA) of Commercial and Sport Chinook Fisheries which is filed as RC007 on the BOF website). It’s no wonder that the Southeast Alaska Guides Association’s (SEAGO, a Ketchikan group) Executive Director Samantha Weinstein said that they were, “really happy with the language the Department proposed.” SEAGO’s members faced almost no fishing curtailment from the Action Plan (AP).
There was no public participation allowed on the BOF Preferred Chinook Action Plan (RC266). BOF attendees first saw the preferred AP on Friday evening (Jan. 19) and were given till 7:15 the next morning to submit written comments (Recorded Comments or RC). The board later extended that period but as two BOF board members told me, “We had no time to read them.”
The primary period Stocks of Concern (SOC) are available in Southeast Alaska (SEAK) waters are the months of May and June. May and June are the months trollers catch most of their hatchery fish but ADFG severely limited troll access to hatchery fish to protect SOC. The Department has not curtailed sport access to AK hatchery stocks in any significant way. Trollers pay to produce these fish, sport harvesters do not. In 2017 all gear groups, including sport and charter fishermen, caught more commercial fishermen produced SEAK hatchery kings than trollers. These hatchery kings were meant to compensate SEAK trollers for Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST) cuts in the commercial troll Chinook harvest. When the PST was implemented a SEAK charter industry didn’t exist.
Troll hatchery access areas are designed to avoid Alaska’s wild stocks. Except for areas in front of the rivers of concern there has been no time or area changes for the sport and charter fishery. The primary charter king season are the months of May and June. During this same time trollers will be confined to a few postage stamp terminal areas while charter vessels will have the ocean to fish.
On a related matter BOF members seemed ignorant of the separation of authority between BOF king salmon management obligations and those of Alaska’s PST personal. Alaska Treaty Commissioner Charlie Swanton was given the microphone to explain why, last August, he usurped the BOF management plan to cancel the August troll king opening. According to Commissioner Swanton that action was not for conservation. It was, he said, because Alaska went over the PST allocation. Sport harvest exceeded quota. Trollers were held 31,000 kings short of theirs. Last August trollers were closed by Commissioner Swanton for allocation not conservation.
Without significant “shaping” of charter harvest, trollers can expect sport catch in 2018 to exceed allocation again which will (again) risk the August troll opening. Unhappily for trollers (and Sitka’s economy) this AP will be in place for at least FOUR YEARS.
No, Dear Editor, trollers are not “satisfied” with the BOF outcome. We have little faith in the effectiveness of the Board’s actions. The only certainty resulting from the Sitka BOF meeting for SEAK Chinook harvesters is: There was a draconian reduction to the troll winter and hatchery harvest while the inside area charter industry will continue to be allowed to target SEAK Stocks of Concern.
Matt Donohoe, Sitka
Many Thanks
Dear Editor: A year ago I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and have been recovering from the paralysis brought on by it. I have had many people help me in various ways through this hard experience.
I would like to thank the following people for all the generous help they have given me: the staff at Sitka Community Hospital and Oceanside Therapy, the staff at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, the staff at Sitka Physical Therapy, Sitka Volunteer Fire Department, Guardian Air flight crew, Jesse and Rachel Ranke, Adam and Jackie Horton, Steve and Dorothy Den Herder, Robin Schmid, Nick and Kim Nekeferoff, Ralph Jones, Dave Tonkin, Teka Lamade, Shane Taylor, Lois Verbaan, Lisa Langenfeld, the Elks Club and all who donated to and attended the benefit dinner and auction, the Moose Lodge and all who attended the benefit dinner, Phil Carolyn and Matt Spiegle, Johnny Belcher and Theresa Weiser, Napa employees, Steve and Patti Skannes, the Kluting family, Mike Motti, Todd Dokey, Mike Laguire, Chris Spivey and First Bank, Brad, Minnie and Holley Dennison, Kija Elstad, Patti McDaniel, Bill Lehmann, Dr. Robert Hunter, Alicia Haseltine, Lance Ewers, Rob Mathis, Center for Community, my parents Gary and Debbie Den Herder, my sister Donna Den Herder, and many others. Sorry if I missed anyone.
Jake Den Herder, Sitka
