The Kenai City Council saw a large community turnout at last night’s Personal Use Fishery Work Session.
Council Member Brian Gabriel said it was great to see the large turnout.
Gabriel: “They want to you know have their voice heard on some of the concerns that are certainly going on in the dipnet fishery. You know I heard tonight that the continual expansion of the fishery every year kind of creating this dip net creep in to certain areas of the community is a concern and we’ll do what we can to address it.”
The public testimonies acknowledged both positive and negative points about the City running the fishery but also leaned toward limiting the amount of traffic allowed, stating that most of the traffic is not locals anymore. Gabriel followed that by stating according to a poll of 92% of those who paid fees to fish last year, only 5% were from Kenai, 17% were from the Kenai Peninsula Borough including Kenai, and 83% were not from here.
Ricky Gease of Kenai River Sportfishing Association suggested a shuttle services from designated parking areas, while others recommended increasing fees to add revenue.
City Manager Rick Koch spoke with us about the public suggestions…
Koch: “Some folks suggested we should increase our fees, some said we should eliminate some fees, some people said motorized access to the south beach should be eliminated. There was suggestion to create an area on the south beach where camping, fires and parking was allowed and have it not be allowed on the other part of the beach. There wasn’t much discussion on the north beach.”
There was also discussion about how much authority the City has to enforce any regulations they put into effect and if restrictions are enforced, where it will push the traffic to.
Harbor Commissioner Phil Morin said he thought the session was informative.
Morin: “It’s a complex set of issues and as its been pointed out the City has been given the responsibility without the authority or the finances to implement good safe practices and we’re trying to have to do that on a scramble as the intensity of the fishery increases.”
No decisions were made as it was just a work session.
