With salmon arriving in many fisheries across the Kenai Peninsula, anglers and dipnetters are reminded to properly dispose of fish waste. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation reports that discarding fish waste on public or private property or along roads, pull-offs, and trails can attract bears into residential areas and result in fines ranging from $300 to $1,000. Fish waste is illegally discarded each summer in vacant lots, greenbelts, and along city streams and lakeshores. Improperly discarded fish waste also could lead to human-bear conflicts on the Kenai Peninsula.
Anchorage Area Wildlife Biologist Dave Battle believes that many people who dump fish waste don’t realize the danger they create for others:
“Fish and fish carcasses attract bears and brown bears, particularly, may aggressively defend those food sources.”
Anglers and dipnetters are encouraged to chop carcasses into numerous pieces and throw them into fast moving water. Those who remove fish from the fishing site for processing should consider taking your waste to the Central Peninsula Landfill in Soldotna as they accept fish waste free of charge from 8:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. seven days a week in the summer. Additionally, fish waste can be frozen to eliminate odors prior to trash pickup; do not place waste out the night before pickup. Fish waste can also be deposited at the other transfer facilities across the Kenai Peninsula, including those in Cooper Landing, Kasilof, and Ninilchik, but in smaller quantities. All fish waste must be double-bagged in plastic trash bags with a limit of two bags dropped off per day