Fishing for answers

To the editor:

As a resident of Alaska for 30-plus years, I am not on board with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s answers to what it takes to improve our salmon fishery in the Mat-Su. For several years, the Susitna drainage has had a bag limit of five king salmon per year. This number should be increasing, not declining. Why should we be “managed by the fish,” instead of us managing them?

Native fish are a unique commodity, but managing them down to the last one will not work any longer. When well-known Mat-Su sport fishing guide Andy Couch was asked what difference it would make to his clients whether they caught a hatchery or native king, his answer was “probably none.” Most would not know the difference.

Thousands of dollars will be spent this year in the Mat-Su to study the cause of the king decline, and much more than that on the increased enforcement of area regulations. These dollars would be better spent on increased stocking enhancements in some of our local rivers. At this point in time, it seems inevitable that something needs to change. Certainly, the restrictions will improve escapement or even create some, but it will not get more fish into the freezer in years to come. Once restrictions are in place, seldom do things improve.

Bringing our fish resources back to “status quo” is not good enough. We need more fish and more liberal bag limits and regulations. A proven way of doing that is to increase stocking enhancement. The handwriting is on the wall. Let’s take a look at escapement goals. They are in place to attempt to ensure a reasonable return of fish year after year, or status quo. This will not allow larger bag limits of fish, as the demand for them outweighs the supply. The reason for not catching a king salmon on a king fishing trip should be that the fisherman did not know what he or she was doing, not that there were no fish. Bait restrictions, catch-and-release, etc. should be a thing of the past.

As sport fishermen, we deserve better. We pump a lot of dollars into our economy for a very small return. This is my humble and personal opinion.

Steve Totten

Longtime Valley resident and fisherman

Co-Owner Steve’s Toyo Stove Repair, Wasilla