By Bob Tkacz, For the Journal
JUNEAU — The ethics, expertise and ability of the Board of Fisheries members were questioned during an unusual three-day hearing on Cook Inlet salmon issues held by the Senate Resources Committee in the last week of March.
The Department of Fish and Game was criticized by the City of Kenai, among others, for its management of the Peninsula’s personal use sockeye fishery and for ignoring damage to spawning beds and other critical habitat from dipnetters moving up the Kenai and Kasilof rivers to escape the crowds.
Committee Chair Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, called the hearings held March 24, 26 and 28 the “Cook Inlet Salmon Dialogue.” The hearing
s included the perspective of 12 stakeholder groups in the state’s most hotly contested fisheries, followed by an ADFG review of Inlet stocks and the dizzying, overlapping plans to manage them.
Under Giessel’s rigidly tight hearing schedules, there was no dialogue between the stakeholders and limited time for lawmaker questions, and she indicated no interest in debate.
“I have been told this is a brave thing to do. I believe, as we saw Monday (March 24), we can have productive dialogues and stay above the fray,” she said at the start of the March 26 session.
In the opening presentation, Kenai City Manager Rich Koch said ADFG is ignoring the city’s rights under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act and advertises sensitive city-owned land as open to dipnetters.
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