A bill to create a Sockeye stamp, modeled after the current King salmon stamp, is making its way through the Alaska House.
House Bill 137 would use the money garnered from the stamps to assist with the increase in interest of sockeye fisheries, specifically in the Copper, Kenai, and Kasilof Rivers.
At public testimony this week, multiple members of the Kenai River Special Management Area testified in support.
We spoke with member Keith Baxter…
Baxter: “Representatives have also found it to be of value and the KRSMA board has found it to be of value. The devil’s in the details though, people are obviously concerned about where the money goes, I mean obviously we want to see as much of it as possible come to address the Kenai River. In a perfect world we were hoping for something that was Kenai Peninsula or Kenai Watershed, regionally specific. And that’s not the case with House Bill 137, it’s a much broader bill.”
If passed, anglers would have to purchase a sockeye stamp with their licenses for sport and personal use fishing.
The House Finance Committee will take up the bill on Friday, April 10, at 1:30 pm.