Hunting by the numbers

The drawing hunt permit winners for this upcoming season were posted online Feb. 17 and lists were printed in Sunday’s edition of both the Frontiersman and the Anchorage Daily News. Ordinarily, this would be a momentary highlight in my year until I would find out I didn’t win a single permit. This year is no exception, but for a different reason. The three moose hunts I applied for were all cancelled by Fish and Game even before the drawings were held.

In order to find out why, I had to search “news release” on the Fish and Game website. Down the list was a one-page release issued Feb. 17 stating that antlerless moose permits for hunts in Game Management Unit (GMU) 14A numbered: DM400, DM401, DM402, DM403, DM406, DM408, DM410, DM412 and DM413 were cancelled because of department concerns over the high numbers of moose being killed on highways and starving to death because of deep snows in the area. Moose numbers are high in the Mat-Su this year, but the department is expecting that weather, highway and railroad related deaths will lower the numbers significantly, eliminating the need to issue permits to help control the GMU 14A moose population.

That news was disappointing for many folks hoping to win an antlerless permit close to home. My wife, for one, bought her first hunting license in several years specifically to apply for antlerless permits for this upcoming season in GMU 14A. When I told her the news, her first response was to ask if her permit application fees would be refunded. According to the news release, all application fees for these cancelled hunts will be refunded by mail or by credit issued to a credit card, depending on how the original application was paid for. No refunds will be available from Fish and Game offices.

The news release states that, “The department plans to reassess the moose population in GMU 14A next autumn to determine the impacts of the deep snow” and work with local groups to explore options on how to best manage this moose population in the future.

On another topic, a bill currently in the Legislature would establish a sport fish guide services board, similar to the already existing hunting guide services board. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 24, was sponsored by Sen. Lesil McGuire. If passed, the services board would have, among other duties and responsibilities, the authority to revoke or withhold sport fish guide licenses for ethical or legal violations of Fish and Game regulations.

Right now, for all practical purposes, there are only a couple ways a sport fishing guide can lose his license for violating a Fish and Game regulation. A judge may revoke it as part of a sentence for a conviction. Another is if the guide loses his sport fishing license for a violation, the guide license is automatically suspended for the same duration as the fishing license suspension. The guide services board would have much broader power to revoke or rescind guide licenses for unethical but not necessarily illegal activities and for outright convictions of regulation violations. Losing the guiding license would no longer depend on the judge revoking it as part of a sentence.

I understand that the sport fishing guide association (KPGA) on the Kenai and the guide association for Southeast Alaska (SEAGO) both support this bill. I have heard mixed reviews from guides in this area. I don’t think folks locally object to the general concept of the services board, but, as they say, the devil is in the details.

The stated purpose of the legislation is “to promote the health, safety and welfare of the guided fish angler and the stability of the sport fish guide industry in the state by regulating the activities of providers of sport fishing guide, outfitter, and transportation services.” The board would derive its authority through the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development — the same department where the hunting guide services board currently resides. If passed, the legislation would take effect Jan. 1, 2015.

Personally, I think this legislation is a much-needed first step toward eliminating or reducing illegal sport fish guiding activities, both statewide and here in the Valley. I would also like to see actual state statutes spelling out the mandatory loss of a sport fish guide license for cause, but that type of legislation is tougher to get passed. For some reason unclear to me, society seems content to let “minor” illegal activities go unpunished and then wonder why our collective moral and ethical value standards have degenerated over time.

We’re already hurting in the numbers of salmon returning to our Northern District. The rumor is Fish and Game will be handing down even more in-river restrictions for this coming sport fishing season. Let’s do everything we can to provide everyone a fair shot at catching their few fish by passing SB 24 to curb illegal sport fish guide activities.

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