Efforts are still underway to schedule a Board of Fisheries meeting on the Kenai in the future.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten accompanied Governor Bill Walker on his trip to Kenai Wednesday and the pair announced ongoing conversations about the issue.
Gov. Walker: “I’m going to meet with the Board of Fish to talk about a meeting here. That’s a commitment I made, a couple of times, and so we’re going to honor that to bring the board here for a meeting.”
Commissioner Cotten said he appreciates the governor’s approach to finding people to represent all fishing group users to be Board of Fisheries members.
Comm. Cotten: “I spent a lot of time this summer talking to people who were hands on fishermen and both of us, every time we have a meeting with folks we come away realizing that we’ve learned something. So this is my first time through a Cook Inlet management season and we have learned some things.”
The pair also weighed in on the setnet ban initiative currently facing litigation from the state: both agreed state resource allocations such as fish should be regulated by science, not by votes.