One day after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Seattle judge’s ruling that had shut down the Southeast Alaska chinook troll fishery, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game delivered the catch limit news to the troll fishermen, specifying the number of kings they are allowed to catch during the upcoming season.
Commercial trollers will have a total allocation of 74,800 chinook salmon during the first retention period, which begins July 1. Based on data from past years, the department thinks that the goal will be reached in 9-10 days, depending on weather.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had already announced that between October 2022 and September 30, 2023, trollers would be permitted to harvest 149,100 treaty chinook. Those are not fish originating from Alaska hatcheries. This represents a reduction of 44,100 fish compared to the previous year, amounting to a 30% decrease.
The adjustment in harvest limits can be attributed to the Pacific Salmon Commission’s implementation of a more conservative approach to setting chinook harvest caps for Southeast Alaska. As the regulatory body overseeing fishing practices along the West Coast of the United States and Canada, the PSC makes the catch allocations between the two countries under the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty.
Following the allocation decision, the Alaska Board of Fisheries must approve the management plans that divide the state’s catch among various gear types and user groups.
More information on the exact details of the commercial Southeast chinook fishery can be found at this ADF&G announcement.
Meanwhile, Wild Fish Conservancy, which brought the lawsuit to try to shut down commercial king trolling in Southeast Alaska, said “the appeals process is just beginning,” indicating that the group may make an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. That appeal could likely be after the July troll fishery, which is is just four days away.
If you want Chinook numbers to come back then the logical thing to do is not harvest anymore instead of making up excuses to continue harvesting. Alaska dept. of F & G have for many years been poor managers of the same.
We need to ban any fishing vessels from Washington ports from fishing Alaska waters.
Then they ban all shipping of goods to Alaska. Think man think.
They going to start shooting down the aircraft??
Suzanne, I would respectfully ask that you please not allow yourself to fall prey to the radical leftist, Orwellian redefinition of words, as you did with the headline here.
“Fishers” are an animal in the Mustelidae (Weasel family).
“Fishermen” are those (humans), of either sex, who catch fish.
I was aiming for character efficiency in the 3-deck headline. (And I’ve also routinely called them fishers for 20 years, before fashionable.) – sd
Jefferson:
Before you attempt to correct Suzanne for her use of the word “Fisher” you might consider the Oxford, Cambridge, and Webster dictionary definitions. The first definition in those dictionaries states clearly that “Fisher” is a person who fishes. Other definitions from other dictionaries state the same. I am pretty sure that not all of these definitions are a re- definition from radical leftists. Some may even pre-date the term radical leftist.
Fisher is a non gender term used for all who engage in sport or commercial fishing. The animal “fisher” is a word very seldom used, and I believe never the first definition in any dictionary.
Caution is in order whenever you contest the use of a word by Suzanne Downing. You get in over your head rapidly. I mean
quickly. No, I mean “ in a hurry”.
AF, common usage of the words over my lifetime, and well before, clearly demonstrates, or at least demonstrated (past tense), until very recently, that a person engaged in the act of fishing was a “fisherman”, and a “fisher” was an animal.
You can argue the semantics all you want, but until recent years, virtually NOBODY used the word “fisher” to mean “fisherman”.
Wow Jefferson. I was trying to put a humorous spin on your critique of Suzanne’s use of “ Fisher” . I was simply letting you know that all the dictionaries I read said Fishers were people who fished. Don’t know about “ recent” years but most people I know used “ fishers” and “ fishermen”.
This is not about semantics. It’s about your misplaced criticism of Suzanne. Lighten up a bit. I mean, give her a break. Or something like that.
So, the hundred year old Southeast Alaska Mom & Pop troll fishery gets an allocation of 74,000 king salmon & the relatively new Seattle based factory trawl fleet in the Bering Sea has a bycatch cap of 55,000 kings & the Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet doesn’t even have any restrictions on the amount of king salmon bycatch, I believe! Maybe Senator Sullivan should look into this.
Don’t let them go trolling under the bridges
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