There are myriad things to be concerned with as another fishing season in Alaska gets underway. Of course, the most pressing usually revolve around readying your rods, reels and lines for the weeks and months to come, when hard-charging kings, hungry halibut or rainbows fresh off the spawn can make fools of the unprepared. There are vacation days to schedule, trips to plan, waders to patch, and - don't forget - new licenses to buy.
However, we must not take for granted the grandness or the plenty of Alaska's fisheries. As numerous tales from the Lower 48 attest, just because we've always had it doesn't mean we always will. That means from time to time we must concern ourselves with the preservation of those fisheries as well.
This season Alaska's fraternity of sport anglers has at least three major issues on the front burner, ranging from new halibut-charter regulations to threats to the integrity of the fisheries themselves.
Issue one remains the same as in years past - the proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska. There has certainly been plenty in the news about this massive sulfide deposit and the continuing controversy over its development, but as a refresher, according to preliminary designs filed with state agencies, the industrial footprint could span up to 54 square miles and include the world's largest earthen dam - over 700 feet high and 4 miles long - which would eventually contain billions of tons of mining waste. The risk of acid-mine drainage, heavy-metal leakage and toxic dust, not to mention the huge water withdrawals required, threaten the greatest salmon-spawning grounds remaining on the planet. For more information or to get involved, please visit www.renewableresourcescoalition.org or www.bristolbayalliance.org.
Secondly, beginning this February, the National Marine Fisheries Service restricted the number of charter boats operating in some areas of southcentral Alaska. Charter operators must have demonstrated a qualifying, logbook-documented catch history in the fisheries in 2004 or 2005, as well as 2008, to qualify for a new permit. The new federal restrictions are expected to reduce the number of charter operators in Valdez, Homer and Seward by more than a third.
The restrictions arose from concerns of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) about the growing number of halibut taken by charter boats. Growth in this harvest had to be offset by a lowering of the commercial catch limit, even though, as documented by statistics published by ADF&G, the charter harvest still accounts for less than 15% of the total catch, with commercial longliners controlling the remainder of the allocation, including bycatch.
Additionally on the halibut front, federal fisheries managers are implementing restrictions on halibut catches in southeast Alaska. The NOAA's Fisheries Service said it was following the recommendation of the International Pacific Halibut Commission in enacting the restrictions, which will limit the maximum size of a halibut caught by Southeast charter anglers to 37 inches. In this region of Alaska, charter anglers can also only catch one fish per day, a rule that began in 2009.
In Southcentral, charter anglers are still allowed to keep two halibut per day, but that may be changing soon as well, as in addition to the limited-entry permit program, the NPFMC has passed a catch-sharing plan that will reduce the halibut allocated to guided sport anglers by up to 30%. If signed into law, southcentral Alaska charter clients would also face a one-fish-per-day limit, and possibly also a size restriction such as that going into effect in Southeast. Currently, the Charter Operators of Alaska are organizing in opposition to these measures. More information, as well as an online petition, can be found at www.charteroperatorsofalaska.org.
Last but certainly not least, there is the issue of the proposed Chuitna coal-strip mine, which would be Alaska's largest. The proposal belongs to PacRim, a Delaware corporation, and if fully developed, the mine would strip over 32 square miles of the Chuitna watershed, located about 45 miles west of Anchorage, extracting over one billion tons of sub-bituminous coal for export. Maybe most alarming is that the for the first time in Alaska history, a project would mine through 11 miles of salmon-bearing streams - in this case, Middle Creek, a major tributary of the Chuitna and a stream identified by ADF&G as "significant to salmon." In all, it is estimated that 41 percent of the Chuitna watershed will be directly impacted from mining and backfilling of the mine. Middle Creek as it flows now would be completely destroyed. Leading the battle against this proposal is the Chuitna Citizens Coalition, an organization founded in 2007 by community members of Tyonek and Beluga. For more information, please visit www.chuitna.org.
In any of these cases, it's vital that those who use and enjoy Alaska's fisheries also lend a hand in making sure they remain healthy and abundant for future generations. Get educated, get involved, and then get out on the water in 2011.
- Fish Alaska staff |
