Bill to Tilt Alaska Fish Management Toward Personal Use Gets Wider Support from Legislature
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Juneau Resources Weekly] by Dave Theriault - March 18, 2015
A bill to establish a personal use fishing priority that has never gotten very far is getting more legislative support this year. At a hearing ADF&G Commissioner Sam Cotten supported setting an Alaska personal use preference. The controversial measure from past years would give personal use fisheries priority found a friendly audience before a Senate panel this week.
Commercial fishermen found themselves in lawmakers’ crosshairs early in the hearing. “We still have this archaic system where there are commercial opportunities that lock up resources that deny Alaskans their right to live off the land,” said Sen. Lesil McGuire. “I’ve always felt that it should be subsistence and personal use first.”
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stoltze, would set a statewide management priority for personal use, placing it ahead of commercial and sport users.
Under current management practices, allocation needs are balanced among commercial, sport and personal use on equal footing. The measure would have the most impact on salmon management....
To Read Full Story Login Below.