King Salmon Harvest
Dear Editor: Another giveaway of Alaska’s fish.
Many Sentinel readers are aware that the State of Alaska is engaged, through the Pacific Salmon Treaty, in negotiating a 10-year agreement on harvest of salmon that Alaska shares with British Columbia and Pacific Northwest United States. The main component of the king salmon addressed in this agreement are from the Columbia River. Unlike Southeast Alaska (SEAK) Chinook stocks from the Columbia, the world’s biggest salmon system, have been experiencing historic record runs.
Chinook Futures Coalition, a fisheries lobbying organization made up of all gear groups including sport fishermen, has just learned that Charlie Swanton, Alaska’s Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiator, agreed to give up another 7.5 percent of Alaska’s share of the Chinook harvest. Fish and Game Deputy Commissioner Swanton is the same individual who arbitrarily (and not based on science) took 31,000 kings from commercial trollers last August. He is the same person who, again, arbitrarily took 10 percent off SEAK’s internationally guaranteed all-gear chinook harvest this year. Now he has betrayed Alaska one more time by agreeing to another major reduction in Alaska’s and Sitka’s historic king salmon harvest that’ll last for another 10 years.
Mr. Swanton, as the fish gods would have it, is addressing Sitka’s fishing public at the Centennial this Monday, May 21, between 5 and 8 p.m. It would be great if Sitkans went to this meeting to show “Give Away Charlie” how much Alaska appreciates this willful and unnecessary destruction of our region’s economy.
There will be a CFC organizing meeting on Saturday, May 19, at the Centennial’s Steelhead Room at 2 p.m. to consider options. There are options. If you care about Sitka you should probably be there.
Matt Donohoe, Sitka
Tobacco 21 Initiative
Dear Editor: As concerned health care providers in Sitka, we are writing to encourage other community members to support the Tobacco 21 initiative being proposed to the City Assembly. This initiative would raise the minimum legal sales age for tobacco products in Sitka from 19 to 21.
We fully support this initiative for the following reasons:
Tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of premature death in America. It causes half a million deaths annually. Young minds are particularly susceptible to the addictive properties of nicotine. Tobacco industry documents show those who start smoking by the age of 18 are almost twice as likely to become lifelong smokers as those who start after they turn 21.
In Alaska, 600 adults die each year from their own smoking and the proportion of cancer deaths attributable to smoking is 31.4 percent. If current state smoking levels stay the same, 14,000 Alaskan kids alive today will ultimately die from smoking. In addition, there are approximately 800 Alaskan kids who have lost at least one parent to a smoking-caused death.
In 2015, the Institute of Medicine concluded raising the minimum legal sales age for tobacco products nationwide would reduce tobacco initiation, particularly among adolescents aged 15 to 17, improve health across the lifespan, save lives; and, over time, lead to a 12 percent decrease in smoking prevalence.
The monetary costs to Alaska are a major concern. Annual State health care expenditures directly caused by tobacco use are $438 million and state Medicaid total health expenditures caused by tobacco use are is $93.2 million. Add to this another $17.4 million in estimated annual health care costs from second hand smoke and one can readily see the economic cost to our state and its residents. In fact, when state and federal taxes are added together to cover smoking-caused governmental costs each household in Alaska pays approximately $1,074 in additional taxes. All these costs do not even include the smoking-caused productivity losses in Alaska which adds another $205.9 million.
Nationally, three-quarters of adults favor raising the minimum legal sales age for tobacco products to 21, including seven in 10 smokers. In a December 2017 poll performed by the Hays Research Group LLC, 71.5 percent of Sitkans surveyed, including many who are current smokers, support raising the minimum legal sales age to buy tobacco products from 19 to 21.
Raising the minimum legal sales age to purchase tobacco products is consistent with raising the legal drinking age to 21, which led to reduced alcohol use and dependence among youths, and contributed to the decline in drunken driving fatalities. We care about Sitka and a healthy future for our youths. This one change can save numerous young lives and thousands of dollars in our community. We can be a leader in our state in protecting our youths from the negative impact of tobacco products.
Valerie Edwards, MD,
Family Physician;
Jeff Arndt, LPC, MAC;
John Baciocco, MD, CPE;
Kathy Ingallinera,
MSN, APRN-BC;
Laurie Hood, RN;
Jennifer McNichol, MD, FAAP;
Jeff Bentley, Pa-C;
Irbert L. Vega, MD, FAAFP;
Kelly Lakin, RD, LD;
Also supported by: Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, Rob Crane, MD, and Eric Brodell, MPH
Annual Awards Gala
Dear Editor: The Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the community for coming to our Annual Awards Gala this past April. We had a great time setting the night ablaze with our Fire and Ice themed event.
We would like to extend a big thank you to all of the businesses and individuals who helped to make this annual event a big success. SEARHC, as the Diamond Marquee Sponsor helped set the stage for the entire event. Our Platinum sponsor this year was Alaska Airlines. Silver Sponsors included Alaska Seaplanes, Backdoor Café/Fish Eye Coffee, Samson Tug and Barge, Sea Mart Quality Foods, Sitka Fish Outfitters, Venneberg Insurance Inc. and Whites Inc. Our Bronze Sponsor was Wells Fargo and sponsoring the Community Heroes: Hames Center was Northrim Bank. Other sponsors included Friends of the Chamber Aspen Suites Hotel Sitka and Silver Bay Seafoods who sponsored the delicious Oyster Ice Bar.
We are grateful to Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits-Odom Corporation for the complimentary dinner wines, enjoyed by all. Our formal dinner service was catered by Our Town Catering and signature cocktails, in theme with the event, were provided by Westmark Sitka. Our highly anticipated dessert auction is put on by the Chamber Board of Directors and was a tasty finish to the meal. This year’s event photographer was BJordan Photography and entertainment provided by Will Metza and DJ Facetious.
The donors of live auction items added to the excitement with donations by SEARHC, Alaska Seaplanes, Aspen Hotels, Williams Kastner and Halibut Point Marine. Door prize sponsors were Alaska Raptor Center, Carrie Driver Photography, Sitka Pregnancy Center and Tribal Tours/Community House Gift Shop. Thank you all for your contributions.
Last, but definitely not least, we couldn’t have done it without the hard work of John and Sharyn Ferrick who sponsored the Gala’s decor, Tiffany Pearson of Sitka Weddings and Events, Chamber Board Members on the Gala Committee: Mandy Odenheimer and Lillian Owen, Chamber and Visit Sitka Staff: Sherry Aitken, Eileen Chanquet, Leo Jimmy, and Rene Tuttle, Visit Sitka Volunteers: Ann Bills, Lynn Chioli, Carolyn Fredrickson; Ange Grant, Tonia Puletau-Lang, and Marsha Strand and many others who very generously put in hours of work as well.
We look forward to the Annual Awards Gala each year, when we can bring Chamber members together for a special evening of celebration. We were thrilled this year to have honored Keith Perkins with the 2018 Cossack Cap Award, Aspen Suites Hotel Sitka with the Business of the Year Award, and Our Town Catering with the New Business of the Year Award. We’re all so grateful for their contributions to the community.
The board of directors and I would especially like to thank the over 200 who attended the event, contributed to the fun, and so generously supported the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce. We hope to see you again at next year’s Gala.
Rachel Roy, Executive Director, Greater Sitka
Chamber of Commerce
Chinook Salmon
Dear Editor: On Monday, May 21, from 5-8 p.m., the Alaska Department of Fish and Game will be presenting information of interest to nearly everyone in our community because it is all about the king salmon. Our Alaska king salmon and our treaty king salmon. Please come to this meeting.
The Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations are nearly complete, and on Monday we will find out how many Chinook salmon the state has agreed to cut from the annual catch limit for Chinook. The rumor is the Chinook catch limit will be reduced somewhere from 5-10 percent. Just for discussion let’s assume we have committed to give up an additional 7.5 percent for the next 10 years.
This year the Alaska catch limit for Chinook has been reduced by 55 percent from our historic harvest share prior to signing the treaty. If abundance is similar next year Alaska will manage for a Chinook harvest 62.5 percent lower than what the State harvested in the years 1979 to 1982, the “base period.” This is 33 years after signing the Treaty and enlisting in a rebuilding program for Chinook salmon. If abundance drops from 1.07 (where it is now) to 1.05 next year we will hit a new “trigger point” in Table 1 and will be committed to reduce Alaskan Chinook harvest share by 70.5 percent ... go team!!
What is wrong? Aren’t the Chinook decisions on Chinook made by consensus of the U.S. Commissioners? Doesn’t Alaska have the right to say “No” to an unfair sharing arrangement? What is broken?
The National Marine Fisheries Service commissioner, a non-voting commissioner, who was formerly the Washington State voting commissioner on the Salmon Commissioner is calling the shots, using ESA as a cudgel and Alaska appears powerless to resist.
Two years ago at the start of the negotiations Alaska was being told… ‘‘You are going to have to take a 10 percent cut.” Why? The Alaska fisheries actually have very little impact on ESA listed stocks, but the Canadians do. Washington state wants reductions in Canadian harvest of ESA-listed Puget Sound salmon, and to provide more Chinook salmon as a food source for ESA-listed killer whales that have forgotten how to eat marine mammals.
The Canadians agreed to make reductions but insist that Alaska pass more fish to them to make up for their loss. Alaska had no choice but to agree, otherwise the National Marine Fisheries Service non-voting commissioner will not issue a Section 7 permit (finding of No Jeopardy to an ESA listed stock) and the fisheries cannot be conducted without one.
Would you call this a fairly brokered agreement? Where is the negotiation when the terms are set before the talks even start? If Canada needs to be made whole for lost harvest opportunity isn’t there something that could be traded other than fish?
Deborah A. Lyons,
Executive Director,
Chinook Futures Coalition
