birdfeeder11
2011-09-19 23:34:17
One thing I've been trying to figure out are the boundaries of the Juneau area. I mean physically I know what they are but how they come to be is a mystery to me. First of all the gillnet fleet can fish at the mouth of the Taku which is southeast Alaska's largest river but the troll fleet can't fish there. We have to fish at least 50 miles away. The charter fleet is fishing right there also. It seems it is in the best interest of the Juneau Sportfisherman to keep us out, but it seems it is in the best interest of the US and the US economy to allow the trollers to fish there. It would be a boost to Juneau's economy if trollers could fish the Taku since business would be brought to Juneau. No trollers are even going to fish this area until September when all the sportfisherman are done. It just doesn't seem to make any sense to me. This could probably be one of the larger resources for trollers and we aren't allowed to fish it. Does anyone else have any ideas/thoughts about this?
carojae
2011-09-20 04:53:44
You can thank the great minds and the likes of: Dave Cantillion, Ron Somerville, Karl Rosier and fellow cronies for that phenomenom. They would just as soon have gotten rid of us low life trollers. These are Juneau guys, BTW.
About the gillnet fishing near the streams. It is reasoned, that the fish they are targeting are going to a system that the managers have determined to be safe. Safe meaning that system (Taku?) has gotten a safe excapement and they are willing to allow a fishery to occur there.
But they even pushed the seiners back and are (were) not willing to to let seiners fish on any part of the corridor that leads to Lynn canal through Icy Straits. Inian Islands used to be highliner country for the seine fleet but that is now just a distant memory. But yeah, there has since been a little lighting up of that idea; although Inian Islands remain closed there has been some seining further along the path. I am not imformed enough to properly explain that but I know the seiners are not getting enough of the openings they should get if my bad memory serves me right. But I agree, why the trollers can't participate is a legitimate question but I have enough problems dodging pukers out on the ocean.
Yeah, there was all kinds of weird ideas floating around. How about the high abundance areas? Behind Pleasant Island in Icy Strait a "high abundance area" ? Yep, no one fished for Kings back there - it was plain to see that they were thinking that was part of the highway to Lynn Canal to "save the King Salmon". Another was the 8
I don't think the state is interested in giving us Glacier Bay back (even for the permited trollers) in Spring openings either because of that mentality. My guess is "they think" Glacier Bay can be mistaken
They Glacier Bay fishery irks me because permited longliners can fish up there anytime but not permitted trollers when other area are open in Icy Strait, cross sound chatham strait for trolling and no one seems to care.
You can believe this or not but thats what I believe.
$0.02
Jim
John Murray
2011-09-20 21:13:05
Birdfeeder you might want to check out the BOF proposal book.Proposal 312 brought to you by USAGA the JUNEAU gillnetters.They want more of the Taku fish at the trollers expense and whatever else passes by during our troll closure.
Pay your ATA dues and/or plan a stay in Ketchikan in Febuary/March 2012.Every day trollers lose in August means around 1000 dollars.It adds up quickly.
salmontroll
2011-09-21 03:57:14
I think the whole status quo/system isn't working. Trollers are being denied rights because they don't have deep enough pockets to buy off politicians and are now getting pressed from two sides.. Over regulation and inflating costs of operation.. untill we're well below middle class incomes. it's time for a change
Carol W
2011-10-03 18:58:58
John is right all trollers need to pay their ATA dues and clear their calenders for the board of fish dates. I have had the not so pleasurable opportunity to speak with the heads of USAG and they are adamant that the troll fleet needs a 10 day closure in Aug regardless of coho run strength. They don't care about anything but removing trollers from the water in their mind we are a threat to their very existence and we need to be shut down. Anyone who might know a gillnetter who is halfway rational might ask them if they really want a gear war with the troll fleet, seems to me that the commercial fisheries have so many other issues to deal with that it is a waste of energy to try and implement closures on other segments of the industry.
Keep your hand on it
Tom
Salty
2011-10-05 17:25:38
I am probably one of the few guys left in the troll fleet who has witnessed and been involved in several "gear" wars starting with listening to my father and reading his letters trying to get rid of the salmon traps in the 50's and then the summer herring reduction fishery in the early 60's. While good sense usually prevails over time (both traps and the summer herring fishery are gone) there is a high cost during the "battles".
In the case of salmon gillnetting in SE, it is my opinion that there is no way we can or should eliminate it. So, it is a battle that once engaged becomes a forever war with all the ensuing consequences. In spite of some nasty little skirmishes, like over Stikine Chinook recently, trollers and gillnetters have co-existed pretty well in SE Alaska. The nasty SE gear wars in my memory have been between handtrollers and powertrollers in the late 70's, the gillnetters and seiners in the early 80's, and trollers and saltwater guides from about 1995-2009.
One of my few "jobs" in my life was to manage a campaign to get the three SE salmon user groups to vote for a 3% enhancement tax in 1977 and work together on the NSRAA Board. It was quite a challenge and the most skeptical gear group was the gillnetters who were enjoying very healthy wild harvests, particularly in Lynn Canal, during those years. Nevertheless, enlightened gillnet leaders like Jev Shelton, Jim Becker, and others persuaded enough of their peers to vote for the 3% that it passed. Interesting that in recent years the SE fleet most dependent on hatchery production is the gillnet fleet.
I have read the commercial salmon proposals to the Board of Fisheries (BOF). I do not see the gillnetters proposing war on the troll fleet. I do see the seiners and gillnetters with conflicting proposals that unless their leaders work things out could lead to some fireworks before the BOF. The one proposal that changes salmon allocation drastically in SE is proposal 323 by United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association to remove Port Armstrong, Kake, and DiPAC from the Southeast Area Enhanced Salmon Allocation Plan. Hopefully the three gear groups through the Regional Planning Team can work something out on this subject before the BOF meeting in February or else a lot of energy will be spent organizing on all sides for that battle.
I understand and respect the gillnetters position. Unless the salmon allocation plan is either rewritten or the non association facilities are dropped out the BOF is compelled by their own allocation plan to move more hatchery harvest value to seine and troll. Of course, I have been fighting for proposals to move more hatchery value to the troll fleet toward getting into our allocation range for at least 20 years. It is altogether reasonable for the gear groups to work for their interests but in the bigger picture working together for a bigger pie to slice up pays more dividends than battling over an existing pie at the expense of greater overall hatchery production.
John Murray
2011-10-16 01:37:13
Thanks for your leadership on the allocation imbalance Eric.Its a tough nut to crack ,but some progress is being made.I sure wish we could get away from the Chatham brood stock for all the coho hatchery production over there.Those fish are always on the smaller side and they can be persnickety as in 2010 Hidden falls fish.Haven't seen the numbers for this season but I suspect cost recovery blew a ways ahead of the troll catch again.Its been a good money maker for NSRAA.Which isn't all bad I suppose.
Sorry to say I don't respect the gillnet proposals or positions on a few other things.You have a much broader mind then myself.