During a joint Kenai/Soldotna Chamber Luncheon today, representatives from the Kenai Peninsula Fisherman’s Association, Alaska Salmon Alliance, Kenai River Sport Fishing Association, The City of Kenai and guide services sat down together to answer questions given to them by moderator Merrill Sikorski.
The issues circulated around how to make the fisheries on the Kenai benefit all Alaskans and not just a few specific groups.
Attending that luncheon today was U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowsi, following the discussion we asked her how she felt about the issues taken up today.
Sen. Murkowski: “This fisheries forum hosted by the chamber I thought was very important for a host of different reasons, you had representatives from all of the stakeholder groups responding to questions in a very civil and respectful manner, these are contentious issues in this community we recognize those. There’s a lot at stake financially, there’s a lot at stake just from a historic perspective and you have families that are quite dependent on our fisheries and what it lends to this economy.”
We asked the Senator what she sees as a possible solution to these issues.
Sen. Murkowski: “We’ve got to be able to talk about them, we’ve got to be able to work together in a cooperative effort, I think what you saw today here is quite possibly the begining of better dialog in an area that needs some good, constructive dialog.
This evening Sen. Murkowski will be appearing on the Tall, Dark and Handsome show on KSRM 920 AM.