A Board of Fish nominee, and a recent gun show

Earlier this week, Governor Dunleavy released a list of his nominees for upcoming open seats on both the Board of Fisheries (BOF) and the Board of Game (BOG). I want to take a minute and comment on one of the BOF nominees.

Mike Wood of Talkeetna is currently the Chairman of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission (MSBFWC). This is at least his second term (I don’t remember for sure) as chairman. Mike is also a commercial setnet fisher, having a fishing site in the Northern District, near the mouth of the Susitna River.

I first met Mike, as I recall, when he was appointed to the MSBFWC by the mayor and approved by the assembly several years ago. At the time, I thought it was an interesting choice to have a commercial setnetter on an advisory commission heavily dominated by sport fishing interests. But, at the same time, I thought it was a good idea to bring some balance of perspectives into the group.

Over the years, Mike has shown a keen interest in the welfare of the salmon populations in the Northern District and has consistently voted in favor of protecting and conserving these same populations in any actionable votes the MSBFWC has adopted. He has made numerous presentations in front of the Borough Assembly and other borough agencies supporting a conservative approach to managing our salmon populations as various issues came under consideration.

Mike has participated in BOF Upper Cook Inlet meetings representing to the board the importance of sound management techniques to ensure the continuation of healthy salmon populations returning to Cook Inlet. He is a member of the Northern District Setnetters’ Association and has brought their perspectives and concerns on salmon management issues to the commission.

Mike operates his fishing business a little differently than the stereotypical commercial fisherman, who generally wants to catch as many fish as possible during an opening and sell them to a processor for the most money possible. First, Mike doesn’t sell his fish to any processor. He markets them directly to local Alaskans between Talkeetna and Anchorage. Further, Mike normally only catches enough fish to fill the orders he has pending from the locals.

If he has no orders, he doesn’t fish, although I don’t think he’s ever gone through a normal mid-season fishing period without a significant list of buyers. Toward the end of the season, Mike has been known to not fish some of the open periods because all his current customers had all the fish they needed.

In the spirit of transparency, my wife sold her inherited Cook Inlet setnet permit to Mike’s fishing partner when Mike found out we had a permit for sale and we found out he was looking for just a permit – no gear, fishing site, land lease, or anything else normally required to commercially setnet. Over the years, we have also bought fish from Mike’s operation, and to be honest, he has provided some of the best quality fish I have ever seen for sale. We’re planning to buy some silvers from him this coming season.

Mike reminds me a lot of my father-in-law who was a commercial setnetter on the west side of Cook Inlet. Frank made the bulk of his living catching and selling salmon to a processor. But unlike most commercial fishers at the time, he understood that only the surplus fish should be harvested. Enough fish needed to escape up the stream to allow for broodstock and the demands of other users, both human and natural. He understood that “it takes fish to make fish.” Mike does also. I think Mike will make a valuable addition to future BOF management decisions.

On another note, I made it to last week’s gun show. It’s the first recent one where I was able to walk around and view all the items up for sale without needing to be watching a display table or interacting with the public.

I was looking for a couple of specific brands of smokeless powder and didn’t find what I wanted. However, I did find some new, empty cartridge cases in the caliber I needed for developing some reduced loads for a big bore handgun I have. The Lone Eagle rotary-breech handgun shoots the 444 Marlin cartridge and is a real handful when shooting “normal” loads. I killed a small bull moose about 25 years ago with it and hadn’t shot it since. I’ve got some good leads on reduced loads and will try them.