SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton [News Analysis] — July 28, 2014 — Two unrelated decsions on Friday represented bad news for Alaska's fabled commercial fisheries.
First, The Alaska Superior Court on Friday overturned a lower court decision invalidating a fish grab by the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association.
That group put forward a ballot initiative that would eliminate all commercial setnets in the Cook Inlet salmon fishery. Alaska's attorney general declined to certify the initiative, saying it was a taking of a state economic asset, which cannot be done by initiative, and he was upheld in the lower court.
However, the Superior court reversed, saying that no one disputed that salmon were a public asset in Alaska, but that the initiative only restricted a gear type, and therefore was not an allocation. Judge Easter wrote that the ballot initiative would not allocate among commercial, sport and subsistance users, but simply restrict one gear type, and that all allocation decisions would be left to the Board of Fish.
This view leaves open the possibility of a future initiative to ban drift nets in cook inlet.
It is a sad day in Alaska when the majority of anchorage residents, many of whom are new to the state, can shut down by ballot a hundred year old set net fishery in Cook Inlet that employs 900 people.
The Kenai Peninsula Fishermen's Association reacted bitterly to the ruling:
"We are saddened by the Alaska Superior Court ’s decision to allow the dishonest and un-Alaskan initiative effort to ban setnets in urban areas of Alaska to move forward. Regardless of what the backers of the so named “ Setnet Initiative ” are calling themselves today, this is just one more attempt by Bob Penney and his lobbying organization, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, to put a century-old fishery in Cook Inlet, consisting of hardworking Alaskan families, out of business."
"The initiative has nothing to do with conservation, it has everything to do with greed and a sense of entitlement by a small group of people."
If Alaska allows management of its resources at the ballot box, our entire resource-based economy is at risk. If one group of selfish people are able to push a resource grabbing initiative through, then you must ask yourself this: Who will be next? What part of Alaska’s economy will be eliminated next by those who put their wants above what's good for the rest of our communities"?
The final legal status of the initiative is still not clear. The decision opens the way for the sports fishing group to begin collecting signatures. The Kenai commercial group hopes that most Alaskans will support retaining the jobs and businesses depenent on commercial fishing, and reject the initiative if it comes on the ballot.
The second piece of bad news was Gov. Parnell's announcement Friday of a new fisheries advisor. In recent years, Alaska has been well served by having excellent fisheries advisors in the governor's office. Cora Campbell was first appointed fisheries advisor by Gov. Palin in 2007. She was from a fishing family and seen as a knowledgeable and capable advisor, and is now the ADF&G Commisioner.
Later, Stephanie Moreland was fisheries advisor. Morleand also had extensive experience and was seen as hugely qualified, having previously served in ADF&G and also as Sen. Lisa Murkowski's fisheries aide.
Gov. Parnell has now chosen Ben Mohr as the new advisor, who for the past six years has been the public information specialist for the Pebble Partnership. In short, he has been tasked with convincing Alaskan's to support the Pebble Mine, the greatest threat to the Bristol Bay Salmon fishery ever proposed. That plan has now been shelved by the EPA as incompatable with maintaining water quality standards.
Popular radio host Shannyn Moore was apopletic, saying "Parnell is delivering a couple of real doozies. In searching high and low (especially low) for a fisheries advisor, the governor landed on the six-year spokesmodel for the Pebble mine project, a guy named Ben Mohr. You know Pebble, the project that plans to build a giant poison lake at the headwaters of Alaska’s most productive salmon rivers. Mohr is definitely a guy you want making policy to ensure the health of our fisheries for the next millennium."
"Yes, the guy who pimped Pebble and then worked as campaign manager for Ohio’s golden boy, Dan Sullivan, is now advising the governor on fisheries policy. Good thing we care so little about our fish that we’re comfortable letting political hacks manage them."
The fisheries advisor in Alaska is a key position, because they generally represent the state's positon on a range of fisheries issues, and along with the head of the ADF&G, make known the state's positions to the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the Board of Fish. The Board of Fish is nominated by the governor and approved by the legislature, while the six member Alaska majority on the N. Pacific council is nominated by the governor and approved by the Secreatry of Commerce.
The appointment of such an outsider would imply that fisheries are a low priority currently for Governor Parnell, and the assocation with Pebble is a slap in the face to Bristol Bay, and those in Alaska who have praised the EPA decision to disallow the mine.
The following story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.