Clarification
Dear Editor: The June 27 article “Troll Chinook Quota is 52,800 for Summer” cites the June 26 News Release from ADF&G that claims that Alaska Board of Fisheries regulations provide for a total all-gear quota of only 130,000 treaty Chinook.
That news release, and thus the Sentinel article too, is remiss in failing to mention that per BoF regulation this figure should actually be more than 10 percent higher – as should the sport, troll, seine and drift gillnet allocations derived from it. An April 3 ADF&G news release explains that “the 2018 abundance index (of 1.07)...results in an all-gear harvest limit of 144,500 treaty Chinook” but that an ADF&G staff decision (not the BoF regulations) will only allow the combined fleets to target 90 percent of our allotment.
It is also important to realize that while lower than in the recent extremely high years, the 2018 Chinook aggregate abundance index forecast for Southeast of 1.07 is actually higher than the estimated abundance in 10 of the past 39 years – based on numbers from the most recently published model calibration. Despite this, ADF&G staff’s extraordinary decision to reduce our quotas virtually assures that even after the inclusion of local hatchery kings, the SE all-gear Chinook catch will be the lowest in over 100 years!
Tad Fujioka, F/V Merlin
SAPCT Grant
Dear Editor: Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool was the recent fortunate recipient of a grant from the Sitka Alaska Permanent Charitable Trust. Funds from the grant will be used to purchase equipment for our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program. Our curious young scientists will benefit greatly from the new hands-on opportunities to observe, explore, ask questions, and make discoveries. Thank you, Sitka Alaska Permanent Charitable Trust!
Lori Whitmill, Director
Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool
