Herring Fishery
Dear Editor: The commercial herring opener closed Wednesday evening. Finally.
Over the last week, commercial seiners fished exclusively in the northwest portion of the Sitka Sound, taking the majority of this year’s 8,700-ton quota from the area around Bieli Rock.
This was a scary thing for me to witness. Seiners made all their sets in the same general area, an area that borders on the subsistence zone that all of Southeast depends on for herring eggs.
Our herring populations are already declining at an alarming rate. Within the last 6 years, herring populations in the Sitka Sound have fallen 70 percent. We’ve felt that decline in our egg harvests. In those same years, we’ve only met our subsistence needs 50 percent of the time. It doesn’t seem right that the seiners fished the entire quota in the same area, especially an area so close to our last productive subsistence zone.
I’ve harvested herring eggs for over 40 years. In my decades of experience, I’ve seen herring spawn all the way from First Narrows to Salisbury Sound. And now, we’re gathering in just a few spots outside of town.
Anybody that knows anything about herring eggs knows that the backside of Middle Island and the Kasiana Islands are the last prime spots for harvesting. With seiners taking all the fish from around Bieli Rock, it could mean a much lower subsistence harvest this year.
Let’s wait and see how this year’s spawn goes, but I fear it will be bad. I hope I’m wrong. Sitka is the only remaining roe on branch fishery in Southeast and we’ve got to fight to protect it.
Wade Martin
Say No to AMP Testing
Dear Editor: Sitka School District is about to test your children with a new test called AMP - Alaska Measure of Progress. This is Common Core Testing. Common Core curriculum is an idea instituted by the Federal, not state or local, government, and adopted by the Sitka School District. We believe that school standards should be determined by your local school district and not in Washington DC. We believe our children should not be taking these tests.
Further, these computerized tests are a radical change from the usual testing. These tests raise a number of red flags. The difficulty of the questions is determined by the child’s ethnicity. These tests and the Common Core itself will question your child about their personal life and relationship with their parents.
Are you aware of this? Are you aware that you or your child can refuse to allow your child to be tested? Do not become part of this federal overreaching into our homes. Join thousands of students nationwide who have already refused this test. To refuse the test, just write the teacher or principal a letter stating that you refuse to allow your child to be tested.
Tests start Monday, March 30, at Blatchley and April 15 at Sitka High School. Keet is also testing. Please call your friends, spread the word, and gather more information. Go to Alaska Against the Common Core on Facebook or stopalaskacommoncore.org or call 752-4059. For further details, please attend a meeting on Thursday, April 2, at 6 p.m. at the Centennial Building
We have the power to stop this BEFORE it is too late. We are fighting for the minds of our children.
Carin Adickes,
Julie and Matt Stroemer,
Anna Strickland,
Dan and Clara Rear, Kay Baird, Kristy Crews, Matthew Lowe, Ann L. Bills, Laurie Johnson, Sarah Nelson, and Noah Mayo.
