ANCHORAGE — October 21, 2013 — Alaska’s Board of Fisheries is considering changes to the commercial Pacific cod fishery in Cook Inlet, but Kenai Peninsula residents have mixed views on the proposals.
At the board’s Pacific cod meeting in Anchorage, which began Friday and is expected to end Tuesday, the board is considering an increase to the allowable state waters Pacific cod catch in Cook Inlet and allowing longline gear in that fishery, both proposed by fishermen.
The board is likely to make a decision Sunday.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Jan Rumble said the state waters fishery has hit record catch and participation levels in recent years, but the Cook Inlet catch has not yet reached the guideline harvest in any year, with about 4.4 million pounds taken in 2011, and 4.2 million in 2012. The catch those years had a value of about $1.6 and $1.7 million, respectively. About 40 vessels prosecuted the fishery in 2011 and 2012. Currently, only pot and jig gear is allowed.
The board, or BOF, is responsible for making certain fisheries management policy decisions for the state, including setting seasons, bag limits, methods and means for fisheries, and making allocation decisions. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, or ADFG, is responsible for day-to-day fisheries management, based on the direction provided by the board.
The board has 37 Pacific cod proposals to consider at the meeting. The majority are focused on increasing the state waters catch. Increasing the state waters fisheries would shift management from the federal government to the State of Alaska.
The state manages fisheries from Alaska’s coast to three miles from shore, as well as in rivers and lakes, while the federal government is responsible for management from 3 to 200 miles offshore. The state manages both a guideline harvest level fishery, which the catch increase addresses, and a parallel fishery, which operates in state waters but generally follows the federal regulations.
Read the full story at the Peninsula Clarion