Anglers can fish for information at meeting

Silvers are reaching their historical peak run timings about now and the fishing has been good. I’m hearing that the catching part of the fishing experience has slowed down somewhat recently with all the rain and runoff, but if you put in the effort and have access to a boat, your fishing should still be pretty good.

There has also been a fair amount of increased fishing time in the commercial fishery as the various sockeye runs down in the Central District of Cook Inlet have developed. This, undoubtedly, is impacting the numbers of silvers making their way into Northern District river systems.

If you are wondering about the status of the salmon stocks around the area and how the management decisions Fish and Game made this past season regarding both commercial and sports fishing in Cook Inlet are affecting escapements in our river systems, you’ll want to attend a public meeting next week.

This coming Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m., Rep. Mark Neuman and the Mat-Su Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee will host a public meeting with Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) representatives at the Mat-Su Public Safety/Training Building located on Swanson Avenue in Wasilla.

The theme of the meeting, as specified in the flyer I just received, states the meeting will address: “The health and sustainability of Mat-Su salmon stocks: an appraisal and update on Summer 2010 assessments.” Neuman will chair the meeting and ADF&G staff attending will provide an oversight of how well both king and sockeye salmon returns to the Northern District fared this year.

According to Neuman, “Residents of the Mat-Su are becoming increasingly concerned about the health and future sustainability of area runs. I encourage interested Valleyites to join us for this informational meeting with ADF&G officials.”

ADF&G has received some prepared questions so they can come ready to address valley concerns about king salmon escapement numbers and how the Susitna-Yentna sockeye stocks are performing in light of the Stock of Concern status the Board of Fisheries (BOF) issued in 2008 for this stock. I expect members of the Blue Ribbon Committee will have further questions, as will other folks attending the meeting.

I would expect to see both fisheries division directors (commercial and sports fish), the area managers from both divisions and possibly some regional management staff from Anchorage in attendance. The commissioner might even show up.

I would also expect to see the majority of the Valley legislative contingent, possibly with some of the challengers for the seats up for election this fall present, along with some of the Anchorage legislators too. There will folks from the Blue Ribbon Committee, a few Mat-Su Borough Assembly members and representatives from the local Fish and Game Advisory Committees present as well. At least two BOF members have been invited to listen to the presentations and questions since this year’s BOF cycle includes addressing issues in the Cook Inlet salmon fisheries.

If you have questions or concerns about the status of salmon stocks in the Mat-Su valley, I would strongly urge you to attend this meeting. You will be able to meet the folks responsible for managing the fisheries and hear their take on how well or how poorly things are going. You will also be able, time permitting, to ask that one question that’s been bugging you all year about why this or that was or wasn’t done.

The dipnet fishery on Fish Creek is over and I’m hearing, anecdotally, that it was fairly successful. My wife and I went down one day to see about dipping some fish from the upper creek section. We picked an incoming tide in the middle of the week, figuring there would be fewer folks present. Boy was that ever wrong! There had to be at least 100 vehicles already parked when we arrived. Everybody was down near the mouth of the creek dipping, so we had no competition where we went, but we also didn’t have any fish in the creek either.

There was so much effort in the lower section, no fish could get through to the section where we were looking. We went home fishless, but that was OK — we had brought back a pile of fish from Valdez the week before. Everybody we talked with who was dipping near the creek mouth had at least 12 to 15 fish and many folks had limited out on the number they were allowed with their permit. It’s nice to see a personal use (PU) fishery available locally.

Why the sudden availability of fish in Fish Creek two years in a row after 15 years or more of not enough fish to allow a PU fishery to occur? I’m thinking that, at least this year, the fish were here because the forecasted Kenai run was weak and late to start so the commercial nets were more restricted in fishing time early on. The Fish Creek reds made it north because of these restricted commercial fisheries. I wish F&G would finally put two and two together and realize what is going on.

On a personal note, this column marks the beginning on my ninth year writing about happenings in our great Alaskan outdoors. I plan to keep writing. I hope you plan to keep reading.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.