On Tuesday the Alaska Board of Fisheries voted against having the 2017 Upper Cook Inlet Finfish meeting on the Kenai Peninsula.
Kenai City Manager Rick Koch was at the meeting where the board members voted.
Koch: “Well there was a fairly robust discussion and we heard a lot of the same, maybe not completely true, sort of claims about neutral sites, how the security and safety in Anchorage gives more people an opportunity to participate.”
1999 was the last time the full Board of Fisheries met in Soldotna, when the two week meeting nearly changed locations after members were reportedly concerned for their safety.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre testified in support of the 2017 meeting on the peninsula last week, stating that that detail has been significantly over-dramatized; he says emotions will always run-high when decisions are being made that impact people’s livelihoods.
The Board of Fisheries is still scheduled to hold a October 2016 work session in Kenai.
Koch: “It will be a two day work session and residents of the peninsula will be able to provide testimony during one day. [Typically] the work sessions do not have public involvement for testimony other than written.”
The board members voted 5-2 against the 2017 Upper Cook Inlet Finfish meeting on the Kenai Peninsula, although Koch says many members seemed to be on the fence about the decision.