Chinook Fishery Decision
Dear Editor: With so much discussion on whether the troll Chinook fishery will open on July 1, it’s important to remember that Alaska Trollers Association, the State of Alaska, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have filed a motion in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This motion asks the court to stay (stop) the order from the Western District Court of Washington pending appeal. The Western District Court’s order shuts down our king salmon fishery. A stay would allow us to fish kings this year.
We, the defendants (NOAA, Alaska, ATA), have asked the court for a decision on the motion by June 23, which is this Friday. We are still expecting the court’s decision on this by Friday. We have no idea what that decision will be, but I live in hope.
Matthew Donohoe, President
Alaska Trollers Association
Two Thank Yous
Dear Editor: First of all, thank you for the June 14 Associated Press article about the life, work, and death of whale scientist, philosopher and activist Roger Payne.
I will never, ever forget the first time I heard Dr. Payne’s whale songs. It was in late 1970 – two years after I had returned from my second year in Vietnam – and I was still trying to sort out what I had experienced over there, what I had learned and what I wished I could forget. And most of all, I was seeking answers to the many questions about that war that I had brought back with me.
And it was upon hearing “Songs of the Humpback Whales” that I received the beginning of exactly the information and guidance that I was seeking: “The answers are there. All you have to do is to learn where, when, how, and from whom to ask for them. And then learn how to see and first hear and then listen to them. It’s all very simple. Just not easy.”
As Dr. Payne put it in the “Saved by the Whales” chapter of his 1997 memoir and report on then-current research ‘‘Among Whales’’:
“What do whales really offer humans? ... Whales offer to human beings ... (the demonstration) that our ancient and ignorant belief in the inherent supremacy of our species over all others is utterly wrong. They put the appalling consequences of that view on public display in an overwhelmingly unforgettable way – and thus refute it forever. What whales offer us is a lesson about tolerance.
“The challenge before us is to confederate with nature in new ways, without straddling its dead body, or claiming ownership of it, or using it for nothing but short-lived self-gratification. In this way, I believe, we will also heal ourselves.
“...(U)nless we negotiate a peace with the rest of life on earth, we will spend the rest of our existence in a world made entirely by humans, where nature is gone, a world whose bible – in which the virtuosity of the creator is extolled on every page – is the mail-order catalog.”
And second of all, thank you for the June 16 AP piece on the life, work, and death of whistleblower, truth warrior, and antiwar actionist Daniel Ellsberg. It was in the summer of 1971 and the release of “The Pentagon Papers” that I – and anybody in America who was looking – found the beginnings of the answers to all those questions I and others had about what the Vietnamese people term “The American (as opposed to the French) War.”
For it was upon reading “The Pentagon Papers” that the whole ugly – not merely “wrong,” but totally evil – lie that America’s war against the people, land, country and nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos was exposed for me and for all of America and the world to see.
And it was upon reading Dr. Ellsberg’s “Pentagon Papers” that the plain, simple promise and truth of the message of Dr. Payne’s singing whales was made very, very real and clear: truth exists and can be found by the committed truth seeker.
Rest in peace, Roger Payne and Daniel Ellsburg, brother warriors for truth.
This nation and this planet desperately need dozens more people like you. If not hundreds. If not thousands. If not tens of thousands.
Thank you for your service and for the model and inspiration.
Jeff Moebus, Sitka
Master Sergeant,
U.S. Army (Retired)
Celebration
Dear Editor: I had a great time at Alaska Escrow and Title Insurance Agency’s party to mark their 10th year in Sitka. I got to eat good food, play music with my friend, Dr. Lauren Wild, and I even won the door prize! Thank you and congratulations to the agency.
Ted Howard, Sitka
YAS Permit Thanks
Dear Editor: It is with candid sincerity that Youth Advocates of Sitka express their gratitude to the community members, planning department, and the Sitka Assembly for their time, representation, and their support in acquiring a conditional use permit.
Our entire agency would like to thank the numerous individuals who assisted in this extended process, and we are eager to move forward with the Coastal Haven program development to carry out our mission to support the mental health of Alaska’s youths. With deep respect,
Youth Advocates of Sitka
