One after the other, the Central Bering Sea Fish and Game Advisory Committee shot down fisheries proposals at its meeting Wednesday in Bethel. The group consists of coastal representatives from Chevak south to Platinum who make recommendations on proposals submitted to the Alaska Board of Fish each year.
The committee unanimously voted down a proposal that would require residents to secure permits to fish for king salmon on the Kuskokwim.
Mekoryuk representative Edward Kiokun says that even though he’s not a king salmon subsistence fisherman, he opposes measures that could make it harder for others to subsist on the species.
“When you start regulating subsistence fishing, it opens up the gate for more regulations on subsistence," he said. "Whereas our ancestors taught us to fish for what we needed and not go over that.”
The committee also unanimously voted down a proposal to classify the king salmon fishery on the Kuskokwim as a Tier II fishery. A Tier II classification would mean that the king salmon population is too small to support subsistence for everyone and people would have to apply for permits to fish for Chinook.
Next, the committee unanimously voted down a proposal to repeal crab sport fishery regulations for the Kuskokwim, Goodnews, Yukon, and North Slope areas. Repealing the regulations would have meant getting rid of restrictions on how many crab sport fishermen can take, what size those crab can be, and how they can catch them.
Lastly, the committee voted to remain neutral on a proposal that would allow the Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner to open one fishing period per week on the Kuskokwim for four inch or smaller mesh gillnets in the early part of the king salmon run. The proposal is meant to give Kuskokwim subsistence users a chance to catch smaller fish like whitefish, lush, and pike between winter ending and salmon season opening. Representatives were concerned that king salmon would unintentionally perish in the mesh.
The committee’s decisions and comments will be submitted to the Alaska Board of Fish, who will make a final decision on the proposals next year.
The Lower Kuskokwim Fish and Game Advisory Committee will weigh-in on the same proposals Thursday and Friday at the Bethel Fish and Game office.
