Thoughts on the outgoing Fish and Game commissioner

Things just never seem to slow down regarding our Alaskan outdoor politics.

I’m sure you’ve all heard that the Fish and Game commissioner, Denby Lloyd, has announced his retirement, effective December 1. That retirement announcement comes as a result of his being charged with DUI and reckless endangerment, stemming from a traffic stop in Juneau a few months ago.

I have heard rumors that Lloyd would not be reappointed to the commissioner’s position. That wasn’t really a news flash for me because I have heard those rumors for more than a year. I don’t know and, frankly, I don’t care if those rumors are true. I was wondering about the possibility of Lloyd’s reappointment for other reasons.

Lloyd and I clashed over some topics during my time on the Board of Fisheries. While he did do some good things regarding our Cook Inlet sports fishing, there were a lot of other things he could have done to help but didn’t. Perhaps the single biggest thing that would have helped would have been a closer on-going oversight of how the commercial fisheries were being managed in relation to getting fish into the Northern District.

At the 2008 Upper Cook Inlet BOF meeting, the board gave Fish and Game the mandate to manage the Cook Inlet salmon fisheries with the number one objective being to make as many system escapement goals as possible, even if doing so meant stepping outside management plans and prescribed “windows” periods. The board’s intent with this mandate was that it applies both in years of strong runs and in years of weak runs. Strong run years meant more commercial fishing time. Weak run years meant less time, regardless of management plan directives.

Lloyd told me that he ordered the extra early season closure of a commercial drift fishing period in 2008 to help pulse more fish north. I was talking with him at a board meeting the following year and I commented how nice it was that the commercial fisheries managers had closed that period because folks had seen the effects of more fish in the Northern District river systems. Lloyd then told me he had ordered the closure over the objections of the commercial fisheries managers.

I quietly hoped that, maybe, finally, a commissioner had figured out how to begin addressing some of the concerns of the Northern District. Unfortunately, even in the face of a projected weak run of reds for 2010, no similar closure was ordered.

The commercial fisheries managers have shown a strong tendency to follow the various Cook Inlet fisheries management plans to the letter, thus relieving themselves of the responsibility of actually managing the fisheries as they develop. If things go as planned, they take the credit. If things don’t work out advantageously, then they blame the BOF by stating that they followed the plan the BOF gave them. I’ve heard some of the managers say exactly that in public meetings here in the Northern District.

The management plans are only outlines of a general management scheme which seems to work most of the time. The department managers are supposed to be the experts, using a blend of science and art to manage the individual runs each year — that requires actual involvement and participation, not blindly following a management plan. That’s why the BOF gave Fish and Game that directive — to clarify and emphasize exactly what was expected from the managers.

However, before I get sidetracked too far down that rabbit trail, let’s get back to the commissioner. Lloyd was a staunch advocate for the predator control programs active in many areas of the state. Personally, I think he did a good job in pushing the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council toward adopting a quota system, with significant penalties for running over quota, on the king salmon bycatch in the pollack fisheries in western Alaska.

I know Lloyd has taken a lot of criticism for these two positions. Folks who don’t, or won’t, understand why predator as well as prey numbers need to be managed fault the commissioner for defending a reduction of both wolf and bear populations in specifically defined and intensely managed areas. Folks who think the quota numbers of king salmon bycatch are too high have also criticized Lloyd for his efforts with the NPFMC. Actually, the way the calculated formulas work out, the “real” quota of bycatch is much lower than most people realize.

I’ve listened to Lloyd answer questions from legislative panels. The questions weren’t always “softballs” either. I was impressed with his willingness to address the questions head-on, often telling the panel things they probably didn’t want to hear.

As a person, I like Denby Lloyd. He is an intelligent man who knew, for the most part, how to survive in a political world I had no interest in. No, I didn’t agree with him on many subjects, but we saw eye-to-eye on probably as many as we disagreed on.

I think the saddest thing about Lloyd’s retirement is that many people will remember the commissioner who retired because of a DUI rather than the person who made many good contributions to the management of our fish and game over the course of his career.

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.