Fishing regulation meetings starting

On Monday, Oct. 6 I participated in a fisheries subcommittee meeting of the Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee by an internet connection, in which the subcommittee considered whether any of the first four Board of Fisheries Agenda Change Requests (ACRs) met the criteria for a Conservation Reason or Purpose. There was one Board of Fisheries (BOF) member present and listening at the meeting, several Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) staff members present who were asked several questions, and some members of the public (like myself) in addition to the fisheries subcommittee members. Near the end of the discussion the subcommittee took a vote on a motion to support ACRs 1, 2, 3, and 4 as having a conservation reason or purpose for Copper River king salmon, as a recommendation to the full Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee who would be meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 8. The motion passed with no objection (although I do not know how many subcommittee members were present). It should be noted that one of the fisheries subcommittee members had written ACRs #1 and #2 and that I had written ACRs #3 and #4.

On Tuesday Oct. 7 I drove to Anchorage and participated in a meeting of the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee in which that committee considered whether any ACRs 1-9 met any of the criteria for the BOF to take them up out of cycle. They voted on each ACR individually and the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee voted that none of the 9 ACRs met any of the criteria to be taken up by the BOF out of regular board cycle — although most of those votes were split votes, and one of them I believe was a 5 in favor, 7 opposed vote.

I thought each meeting was run in a professional manner, and the public (including myself) was allowed to participate. As an author of multiple ACRs, I provided public testimony, and was questioned or allowed to express my thoughts on the different ACRs. In both meetings I felt the subcommittee and committee members understood and considered my rationale. It was interesting too see, however, that the favor/oppose results from the two meetings were exactly opposite each other — although one group only considered 4 of the ACRs, so there may have been some agreement on some of the ACRs not considered.

One of the Fairbanks subcommittee members confided in me that since ACRs were more often than not rejected by the BOF for not meeting any of the three criteria, the mostly likely result of an ACRs is it would not be heard out of cycle, “But that is no reason, to not put up the good fight.”

As evidenced by my writing and submitting two ACRs on the subject, failure to meet Little Susitna and Deshka River coho salmon escapement goals three years in a row, along with fishery management that in my mind does not measure up to Alaska State Constitutional standards, the Policy for Management of Sustainable Fisheries, or even specific Upper Cook Inlet salmon management plan regulations should easily qualify as a conservation reason or purpose. Does that necessitate it an emergency enough to be heard out of cycle? Obviously, from the results of the two meetings I attended other dedicated individuals have widely differing views.

The Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee is also scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Oct. 8 7 p.m at Mat-Su College to provide public comment on whether any of the 9 ACRs meet the criteria to be considered out of regular BOF cycle. There is currently concern whether a quorum can be reached to conduct that meeting.

Through Monday, Oct. 13 individuals or groups can weigh in on whether any of the ACRS meet one or more of the criteria to be considered this year. Comment can be made online from ADF&G’s website.

How important are future sustainable coho salmon production and fisheries at Little Susitna River or Deshka River to you?

Fishing Report

In the past week I’ve heard of some catches of northern pike over 30 inches occurring in the Point Mackenzie area. The Big Lake and Nancy Lake drainages are also known for kicking out some good-sized pike this time of year.

Good Luck and Fish On!

Andy Couch is a member of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee, however comments expressed in this column are his own unless noted otherwise.