The Soldotna City Council approved a resolution that would direct the city attorney to file an amicus brief in the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund vs National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In unanimously approving this resolution, the Soldotna City Council recognizes that the commercial salmon drift gillnet fleet, like other fisheries users, is a critical component of the Kenai Peninsula, positively contributing to the local economy, history, and culture.
Council Member Jordan Chilson:
“This recent decision by NOAA to close the Exclusive Economic Zone would, frankly, be devastating to the local fishing families across the Kenai Peninsula. To really put this in perspective of the impact that this is presenting to our community, the average revenue generated per year from the Cook Inlet Drift Fishery averaged about $27 million and that’s really just looking across the last ten years at exvessel take and, I mean, that doesn’t really begin to quantify all of the additional jobs and sales that are generated in connection to this industry. Over half of last year’s take was specifically pulled from this EEZ zone they’re looking at closing. Of those fishermen, the majority of them are actually local permit holders. One of the ideas I could see being presented in opposition to this is why would Soldotna be wanting to jump in on this when we’re not a coastal community. We may not be physically be located on the coast, but we’re part of broader area and, frankly, we’re kind of conjoined with Homer and Kenai on this one. We somewhat share the same economic fate.”
The fishing waters of the Cook Inlet commercial salmon drift gillnet fishery include state and federal waters, with fishing in state waters managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries and federal waters managed by NOAA Fisheries within the EEZ, defined as waters 3 nautical miles to 200 miles offshore of Alaska and other coastal states.
NOAA Fisheries on November 2, issued a final rule to implement Amendment 14 that prohibits commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet.
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