Kenai Peninsula lawmakers, local mayors, and the Governor himself have all signed a letter asking the Board of Fisheries to relocate their 2017 Upper Cook Inlet finfish meeting to the Kenai Peninsula.
Kenai City Manager Rick Koch says it’s been a long, hard fight, but the Board made a motion to reconsider their location and will discuss the issue during their meetings happening in Anchorage December 2 – 8.
Koch: “It’s difficult to participate in the Board of Fish process, even if you’re experienced in it and you know what you’re doing.”
Letters from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Kenai/Soldotna and Anchorage Advisory committees were sent to the Board of Fisheries in support of having the meetings on the Kenai Peninsula.
Alaska’s Speaker of the House Mike Chenault joined those groups last week in urging Board of Fisheries members to consider the move.
Spkr. Chenault: “It’s important to the Kenai Peninsula for folks that are invested in the sports and commercial communities of the peninsula to be able to go to the meeting and be able to voice their opinions without having to go all the way to Anchorage or all the way to the valley at considerable costs, to get their opinions put before the board.”
Koch and Kenai Vice Mayor Brian Gabriel will attend the meetings next week to speak in support of having the meetings on the Kenai Peninsula.