The Board of Fisheries heard from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on its initial finding of emergency regarding two petitions on the commercial salmon set net fishery in the Upper Cook Inlet. The purpose of the special meeting was to address the board’s delegation to the department under Standing Delegation of Authority to the Commissioner Regarding Petitions for Emergency Regulations, and emergency petitions from Chris Every on July 23rd, and South-K Beach Independent Fishermen’s Association on July 24th regarding the commercial salmon fishery in Upper Cook Inlet. The Board considered whether an emergency exists and considered whether to adopt emergency regulations.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang explains:
“The basis for this request is that the paired restrictions that closes the east side set net fishery, including the Kasilof Section, results in a biologically allowed resource harvest is precluded by the paired restriction and that the resource would be unavailable in the future. It is a state policy that the emergencies are held to a minimum and are rarely found to exist. The joint board petition of 5 AAC 96.625 that the board uses to respond to emergency petitions states that an emergency petition ‘will be denied and not scheduled for a hearing unless the problem outlined in the petition justifies a finding of emergency’. The policy defines ‘emergency’ as an unforeseen, unexpected event that either threatens a fish or game resource, or an unforeseen, unexpected resource situation where a biologically allowable resource harvest would be precluded by delayed regulatory action and such delay would be significantly burdensome to the petitioners because the resource would be unavailable in the future.”
Vincent-Lang stated:
“Upon review of the record the closure of the east side set net fishery in the Kenai and Kasilof sections is not an unforeseen, unexpected resource situation. The direction of the board was clear at that meeting that the east side set net fishery, in its entirety, shall be closed that the Kenai River late run OEG is projected to not be met and the Kenai River king salmon sport fishery is closed. Closure of the east side set net fishery has occurred in the past and is also not an unforeseen event. Finally, the current projections of the late run king salmon in the Kenai River shows that neither the OEG 15,000 to 30,000 nor the department’s SEG of 13,500 to 27,000 will be attained.”
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