We are proud to say that Joel is also an Alaska troller and a member of the ATA Board of Directors.
Joel has spent many years defending the interests of the industry from CA to AK. Be sure and stop him on the dock or hail him on the grounds to say thanks for his self-less service to fish, and those who chase them.
Dale, ATA
tacorajim
2009-04-02 00:36:30
No way anybody involved or contemplating a future in salmon trolling should avoid Joel Kawahara’s eloquent testimony to the House of Representatives. In other words,
400-plus trollers attended the first and only public hearing in Juneau on Limited Entry in the early ‘70s. Many had to expense charter flights from all over Southeast Alaska. We were led by Mike Kelley from Hoonah, a lobbyist, and convicted felon (pro-boxer who beat some guy to death defending himself). You could say I was his most outspoken protegee.
The meeting hall was intimidating. We all sat on those steel chairs that numb your butt, as the plotting beaurocrats looked down at us behind their microphones, over their bifocals, from a grossly elevated stage.
I raised my hand to speak. The ADF&G guy went on and on. I stood up and shouted that this was a public hearing, and I had something to say. Finally recognized, however reluctantly, scolded for not signing up, I stepped forward, turned my back to the VIPs and shouted to the audience, “If you adopt Limited Entry for trollers, you will experience your first seasonal closure. And if you let these guys close your fishery, even for a single day . . . you’ll spend the rest of your careers waiting for the next opening.” The audience roared. They stood. They clapped and whistled.
Next morning the
It so happens the handful of trollers from Ketchikan and Juneau who colluded with lobbyists, beaurocrats and legislators behind closed doors for a year ended up with numerous permits worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The rest is history. Now there are about 650 Alaska trollers out of 1150 back then to clamor (or not) for their survival. Other states followed suit. Where did it all go? (And then the guy responsible for the Oregon salmon fishery’s total devastation, Don McIsaac . . . gets promoted?)
Like I say, support Joel. Study what he knows. Cover his back!