Alaska’s salmon should be managed by Alaska

Recently, members of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council made an important and difficult decision that effectively continues state management of all salmon fisheries in Cook Inlet.

For decades, the state has managed fisheries in all the waters in Cook Inlet – including federal waters. When this state management structure was formalized by the Council in 2012, the Council recognized “the State’s superior ability to respond to in-season data by quickly and continually adjusting run-specific harvest measures.”

Shortly after the state management structure was formalized by the Council, the United Cook Inlet Drift Association (UCIDA) challenged that action in court. In 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of UCIDA’s challenge that the federal government cannot allow the state of Alaska to manage fisheries in federal waters without federal oversight.

The Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA) believes that management of salmon fisheries in Alaska should be developed by the Alaska Board of Fisheries and implemented by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This has proven to be the most effective approach to fisheries management in Alaska, and is consistent with the Council’s historic approach to management of commercial salmon fishing in federal waters in Cook Inlet. Unfortunately, the UCIDA challenge to that approach and the court’s decision does not currently allow for that option.

KRSA examined the Alternatives that the Council considered, primarily with an eye towards sustainability, how plans might be developed, implemented and managed in-season, and whether there are efficient processes in place to support the plans. After careful consideration of the four alternatives in front of the Council, KRSA concluded that Alternative 4 best met these criteria. Alternative 4 effectively rolls Cook Inlet’s federal waters into the existing federal plan for all other federal waters in the area, which does not allow for the commercial harvest of salmon.

There is broad agreement amongst fisheries scientists that the closer to a river mouth salmon harvest occurs, the better that specific stock can be managed - while at the same time reducing impacts on fish bound for other rivers and streams. UCIDA agreed with this approach when they successfully advocated earlier this year to reduce the interception of Upper Cook Inlet sockeye salmon by limiting commercial harvest in areas off of Kodiak Island.

By taking a similar approach to the federal waters in Cook Inlet, the Council may be providing similar beneficial results for all user groups in Upper Cook Inlet - commercial, subsistence, dipnet and sport. Reducing the intercept of salmon bound for upper Cook Inlet may ultimately help to rebuild salmon runs in the heart of Southcentral Alaska, including the Matanuska-Susitna region.

KRSA is supportive of sustainable, efficient and effective management of Alaska’s salmon for all users. We understand the concerns that have been expressed by some in our communities regarding the Council’s decision, and sympathize with those who feel that this decision may harm them. KRSA stands ready to work with all stakeholders in Alaska’s fisheries, as well as public officials in Alaska and Washington, D.C., to continue to ensure Alaska’s management of its salmon resources.

The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council made the difficult but right call when it voted unanimously for Alternative 4, effectively rejecting federal oversight of salmon management in Cook Inlet. Alaska must vigorously defend the right to maintain primacy in the management of fish and wildlife for the good of all Alaskans.

Ben Mohr is the Executive Director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fishery-conservation organization that works to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of fish resources in the Kenai River and elsewhere in Alaska.

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