MAT-SU asks for equity for sportsfishermen

MAT-SU– When a ban on bait for king salmon on the Deshka River takes effect Sat. at 6 a.m., the tens of thousands of sports-fishermen and women in the MAT-SU and Anchorage will feel the pain.

“When you reduce the bait you reduce the harvest by 50 percent,” said Bruce Knowles, a member of the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Sportsmen's Committee for the Borough. “That is a major hit right there.”

Yet there seems to be no movement for restrictions on other harvesters such as commercial fishermen.

The Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game manages the fisheries. Abysmally low returns for the start of the king season are triggering the proposed restrictions. The Dept. is also considering limiting the  season catch for kings on the Deshka to one fish if the run doesn't improve. The Deshka River feeds into the Susitna River.

“The Palmer office of Division sports fishing has been saying since last year that they had major concerns about the health of our king salmon and coho salmon returns in the Susitna River drainage for this year,” said Knowles. “And yet the Board of Fisheries and others in the Dept. of Fish and Game ignored their forecast and authorized extra time for commercial fishing.”

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly Member Tom Kluberton is Chair of the Sportsmen's Committee. “It only seems equitable that restrictions are also placed on commercial fishermen until the strength of the runs improves or can be determined,” Kluberton said.

The number of returning kings is the worst seen in a decade, Knowles said, adding that he understood the need for management action. No one yet knows whether the weak run is just a slow start to summer, or like last year, will remain a weak run.

“We are in full concurrence with the actions of the Division of Sportsfish, but the actions can't be one-sided. We'll have to protect the kings now and the cohos when they come in, in July and August.”

The Committee has worked extremely hard to ensure that our salmon are protected. As of today, the Dept. has agreed to a single restriction for the drift fleet to protect the Susitna River sockeye salmon in early July, Knowles said.

“We hope that they will take this opportunity to use the precautionary principle of the Sustainable Salmon Management Policy,” Knowles said.

For more information call Sportsmen's Committee Member Bruce Knowles at 495-4965. —End—