Speaker provides valuable information

I attended the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce (GWCC) weekly luncheon this past Tuesday to listen to the guest speaker, Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA). He has held this position since 2004.

Here’s a little background on Gease.

According to the KRSA webpage, “Prior to joining KRSA, Gease worked as the executive director of the Kenai Convention & Visitors Bureau for two years and as the museum manager of the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center for four years. From 1992 to 1997 he was a park ranger at Kenai Fjords National Park in Seward. Gease has served on numerous non-profit and fishery boards and commissions. He holds bachelors and masters degree in Biology from Stanford University, and has a Foraker Certificate in Non-Profit Management.”

I’ve known Ricky for several years and worked with him and other KRSA staff, as with other fishery user groups, while I was on the Board of Fish (BOF). He is very knowledgeable about the fisheries of Cook Inlet and is intimately familiar, obviously, with factors affecting the Kenai area fisheries.

Gease talked about several things during the luncheon but focused primarily on the king salmon situation, economic factors, food security, and the tourism impact sports fishing has on local area economies. He mentioned that fishing in Cook Inlet was a billion dollar industry annually. He broke down the numbers and stated that the sport fishing industry was worth $800 million while the commercial fishing industry was valued at about $200 million.

Because of poor projected king salmon returns to the Kenai River this season, the early run king sport fishery is closed. Gease commented that this closure during the May-June period will cause approximately a $7 million loss to the Kenai/Soldotna area. In comparison, the 2012 total closure of the east side setnet fishery was valued at about a $12 million loss to the local economy. These are serious economic setbacks for any Alaskan community.

Gease pointed out that the average Alaskan family of four spends from $8,000 to $10,000 per year for groceries. Under the current dipnet bag limits, that same family can harvest a total of 55 sockeye from the Kenai, for example. If the fish were all filleted, the weight would be approximately 200 pounds of salmon or about one pound per family member per week for a year. At the going rate for fresh, filleted sockeyes in the grocery store, that works out to about $4,000 of valuable, healthy protein for that family, or about half of the annual grocery bill. That’s a significant food security situation and economic benefit, especially for a lower-income family.

According to Gease, the average tourist coming to Alaska will spend about 8 to 10 days in state and will spend about $800 to $1,000 while visiting. If that same tourist decides to go sportfishing and charters a trip, that person will spend about $800 during that one day of fishing. Gease also mentioned that about one in five tourists spend at least one day during their Alaska visit sportfishing. Doing the math will give you an idea of the importance of the sport fishing industry to the economy of Alaska and our southcentral area specifically.

Rep. Lynn Gattis was in the audience and Gease thanked her and the entire Valley legislative contingent for their support in addressing fisheries issues both in the Northern District and in his home Central District area as well. He complimented all the valley legislators for always being willing to listen and for asking what they could do to support the proper management of our Cook Inlet salmon resources.

Gease went on to tell the GWCC members and guests present that they should also say thanks to the Mat-Su Borough along with the cities of Wasilla, Palmer, and Houston for their efforts during the recently completed BOF Upper Cook Inlet meeting this past January/February. According to Gease, the fact that all the valley mayors attended and testified about the problems with salmon returns in the Northern District made a major impact on the board in their decisions.

Gease finished his presentation by telling the chamber members that the single best thing they could do to support proper management of our salmon resources was to buy a hunting/fishing/trapping license every year and then take someone new to the outdoors out for a trip to enjoy our Alaskan experience and make some memories. This is wise counsel.