Part 4 of a 4 part series
by
Les
Palmer
(Editor's note: This is the fourth and last in a series of columns
about subsistence fishing on the Kenai Peninsula.)
If actions by the Federal Subsistence Board (FSB) late last year are any
indication, as early as June of this year, king salmon making their way up
the Kenai River might run into gill nets being fished by people from
Ninilchik.
The Ninilchik Traditional Council (NTC) asks the FSB for two set gillnets at
two sites, one on the Kenai River and one on the Kasilof, and a dip-net
fishery for silver salmon on the Kasilof. The council proposes an "annual
community set net harvest limit" of 1,000 king salmon, 3,000 silvers, 4,000
sockeyes and 2,000 pinks.
Giving Ninilchik residents extraordinary fishing rights is wrong on many
levels:
- There is no evidence that Ninilchik residents have ever fished the
Kenai River with anything except rod and reel, and with dip nets at the
river's mouth.
- To give Ninilchik residents a fishing and hunting preference over
the 50,000 other Kenai Peninsula residents will foment prejudice and
hard feelings.
- Subsistence is not among the five purposes of the Kenai National
Wildlife Refuge listed in ANILCA, but recreational fishing is. The
proposed set gillnet fisheries can't help but disrupt sport fishing.
During the brief season, all refuge waters already are crowded. It would
be irresponsible for resource managers to add activities that increase
conflicts and detract from existing fisheries.
- The proposed set gillnet fisheries would pose a danger of overfishing
small, marginal stocks that already are heavily regulated for
conservation reasons.
- Fish for the proposed subsistence fisheries will have to be taken away
from other user groups.
- All fishing already is heavily regulated and restricted. Anglers are
limited to two king salmon per year. After harvesting one king salmon or
two coho salmon, anglers must stop fishing. With angling rules this
stringent, it would be highly unjust to allow Ninilchik residents to
harvest these fish by gillnet.
- Large rainbow trout would be killed in gillnets, which would ruin the
Kenai River's world renowned trophy rainbow fishery.
- The accumulated effects of gillnet fishing will economically impact
every community on the central Kenai Peninsula.
- These proposals, if adopted, could spoil the idea that "rural"
Alaskans deserve a subsistence priority, an idea that to date has been
broadly accepted. But applying it to what is often called "Anchorage's
playground" is certain to change minds.
- To make these proposals was selfish; to adopt them would be
irresponsible.
Who will help stop this nonsense?
Expect no help from the army of bureaucratic "staff" at the Office of
Subsistence Management in Anchorage. Their motto: "We're just doing our
job."
The Alaska Outdoor Council, a statewide organization with considerable clout
in Juneau, can be expected to help. "Equality in access and use of
resources" is AOC's battle cry.
The well-funded and well-connected Kenai River Sportfishing Association has
submitted a proposal to the FSB that would remove the customary and
traditional use determinations of Hope, Ninilchik and Cooper Landing.
The Kenai River Professional Guide Association will be watching and
participating in the coming process.
Now that these contentious issues on the Kenai Peninsula are in sharper
focus, maybe Senator Ted Stevens will support an amendment to exclude
federal lands and waters on the Kenai Peninsula from subsistence use. People
in the parts of Alaska that are truly rural would benefit by such an
amendment.
The State of Alaska is very concerned that a federal board is on the verge
of establishing subsistence fisheries inside a state nonsubsistence area.
Earlier this week, acting Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd requested
that the FSB rescind its customary and traditional use determinations for
Ninilchik.
Commercial fishermen are keeping their heads down. They'll stand up when a
new user group — one with a preference over all other user groups — has to
be written into every salmon management plan.
In bringing this series to a close, I want to make it clear that I haven't
meant for it to contain racial undertones. I'm aware that any proposed
subsistence fishing would have to be for all Ninilchik residents, Native and
non-Native, alike. I'm well aware that some local people, some of them
Natives, hold subsistence dear, and they have fought for years to bring it
to the Kenai Peninsula.
Some people probably consider me to be intolerant, bigoted and worse. For
the record, I'm not perfect. On the other hand, I'm quite tolerant, and I
try to avoid being prejudiced. I can't stand rednecks. Among my friends are
two of the most liberal Democrats on the Kenai Peninsula.
With that said, I look forward to the coming fight. I didn't start it, but I
fully intend to do what I can to help win it.
Les Palmer lives in Sterling, a federally designated
"non-rural" community. |
