You are hereDipnetting is in Jeopardy!
Dipnetting is in Jeopardy!
Ok fellow dipnetters, here is exactly the reason why the Chitina Dipnetters Association (CDA) has so strongly argued for subsistence designation for the Chitina dipnet fishery. On Dec. 29, 2008, Herbert Jensen, a commercial drift gillnet and purse seine fisherman from Cordova, filed suit in federal district court to eliminate all personal use fisheries in Alaska, especially the personal use dipnet fishery at Chitina. He argues that under the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, the State of Alaska is prohibited from establishing salmon fisheries for its residents only, that residents from all states of the United States must be able to partake in the fishery. For this reason, he asks the court to nullify all personal use fisheries in the state. He further declares that the annual harvest by Chitina dipnetters of some 100,000 sockeye salmon has harmed the commercial drift gillnet fishery by depriving them of the extra $1,000,000 these fish would have sold for.
For you dipnetters who have not heard, the CDA and the Alaska Outdoor Council have filed suit to return the dipnet fishery at Chitina to subsistence status. Subsistence classification will give us priority over the commercial salmon fishery at the mouth of the Copper River and end nonsense like this. It's time for everyone who depends on dipnetting to supply fish for their table for the winter, to dig into your wallet or purse and donate to the CDA legal fund and return the Chitina dipnet fishery to subsistence.
Just got back from dipnetting in Chitina. OK - so I've read my State's Constitution and I am having some difficulty understanding the rationalization that commercial fishing, especially those permits and quotas issued to folks who live outside Alaska, but even those who do live in Alaska, can be allowed. Seems to me the people that live here have more rights than individuals that want to use Alaska's resources for their own gain. Just my .02. My check to the "Dipnetters Association" is in the mail.
I've been dipnetting at Chitina for 24 years and plan to continue no matter the outcome of these lawsuits. I believe there are good people in commercial fishing but they need to handle their own before a few greedy nuts really hurt their industry. Maybe they need to have a heart-to-heart with this nut from Cordova, a Code Red of sorts.
As I understand it only 5% of Alaskans participate in commercial fishing. That means the other 95% are "us". I don't know what the rest of "us" plan to do but here is what I plan.
I will not purchase any product taken by Alaska commercial fishing. Neither will my family in Alaska or in or in the lower-48. I'll try to convince all of my friends and anyone who will listen to do the same. No purchases. Not in seafood markets, not in supermarkets, not in warehouse stores, not in restaurants.
Maybe if we, our families and friends here in Alaska, our friends in the lower-48 and abroad and their friends do the same we can reduce the demand for these products and reduce commercial fishing pressure on our salmon and halibut.
Even if that doesn't work, commercial fishing greed will eventually put themselves out of business. Either way I win because I'll continue to dipnet regardless. It is my right as a year-round Alaskan.
I also plan to draft a letter to my State representative and senator. I'll leave the signature block blank. Then I give out copies to family and friends and ask them to fill in their names and send them to their legislative representatives. After all, we are 85% of the voting public in Alaska, aren't we? All we really need is one honest, sympathetic governor to correct a corrupt BOF.
See you on the river.
OK folks, before the hyper-ventilating get too much more out of hand, maybe we ought to focus on some facts.
The Jensen lawsuit is just that - the actions of one individual. There is no, I repeat NO, support for this ill-advised and unnecessarily divisive lawsuit here in Cordova or amongst the commercial fleet who, likewise, depend on the bounty of the Copper for their sustenance. It is always dangerous when the ideologues, on one side or the other, gain standing in the debate while the rest of us simply want to get on with our lives and families. It is our belief that the court, upon review, will find this suit without merit and file it in an appropriate trash bin.
Now, the ideologues on the other side are also seeking judicial remedy for problems which do not exist. It matters not a bit how the dipnet fishery is classified - subsistence or personal use - most participants, I suspect, just want to preserve the opportunity to fish throughout the summer and to have reasonable abundance and limits that allow "putting away some fish for the winter". We have always supported a dipnet allocation sufficient for the number of people participating in the fishery. And the fear that dipnetters would somehow suffer during weaker returns, was put to rest last year when, as is their mandate, the ADF&G restricted the commercial fishery and the resulting sonar passage was robust enough to provide for an increase bag limit in the dipnet fishery. Perhaps the court will find additional room in the trash bin.
This fishery has helped sustain Cordova for well over 100 years and most of us are regular Alaskans like you just trying to enjoy our wonderful state and feed our families. Yes, we've successfully developed a marketing model that helps us make the most of our ever shrinking share of the resource but that's just good business and something that's being emulated in other fisheries around the state - to the benefit of the state and the many people statewide employed in our industry. Commercial fisheries are as much a part of the Alaskan tradition of utilizing our natural resources as, for instance, oil, minerals, tourism and timber. I not well informed as to what keeps the Fairbanks economy humming, but I'll bet you all are as attached to it as we are to our fisheries.
Cooperation between users will be better for the long-term well being of the Copper River salmon than confrontation - it will allow us to direct our energies to more productive things like maintaining healthy salmon habitats, advancing good science so our managers have the best information and, enhancement efforts where necessary and appropriate. One of the primary reasons for creation of the Gulkana hatchery program was to address the growing needs of the dipnet fishery. This State of Alaska facility, now operated by Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (PWSAC) and paid for entirely by commercial fishermen has performed magnificently over the years and adds up to 300,000 sockeye to the mix each year. We are hopeful that last year's less than anticipated total return of Copper River sockeye was not a harbinger of things to come as some scientists have suggested, but if it is, enhancement efforts will be that much more important. PWSAC and the ADF&G have recently initiated a process to look at existing production levels and identify additional opportunities should they become necessary. We expect dipnetters to be interested and involved in these efforts.
It was good to see Stan chime in. Hopefully someone is sending him a can or two of salmon for his heart.
Good Fishing,
George Covel
Cordova, AK
For years I have watched the CDA fight for Alaskans rights to dip fish out of the Copper River, but I never joined or did much to help the effort. I testified in front of the Board of Fish once, with hundreds of others, but that seemed to be a waste of time as our calls for fairness fell on deaf ears. I appreciate what you have done as an organization, fighting for the thousands of us that use this valuable resource to feed our families. I realize that my apathy is no longer going to cut it, and that if I really care about something, well then, I better stand up and be counted. I care about this fishery a great deal and I do not want to see the greed of a few ruin it for us and future generations.
For these reasons, I have submitted the opinion piece cut and pasted below to the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer and the Anchorage Daily News. I will also be submitting it to the Cordova Times and Juneau Empire once I get around to it. At this writing, I don't know if any of these papers will print it or in what form it will be. This opinion piece is just that--my opinion and my opinion only. And in no way do I speak for any other dipnetters or other consumptive users of the Copper River. I speak for myself. Having said that, I believe, "we" may need to look at the fight in a different way. The supply of fish is not the problem--yet anyway. It's an allocation issue--a demand issue. We've been seeing the demand ending at the commercial fisherman's boat and net, but what is really driving that demand? It’s the man or woman buying that fish down in Seattle—the one that bought the hype that Copper River Reds are better than Bristol Bay reds, or Kenai reds, or any other commercial fishery we have. We have to admit, the commercial fishermen of this fishery have done an excellent job selling our fish. Spin, hype, and aggressive marketing of a limited resource has fueled demand and subsequently greed. As they become more successful selling our fish—they will want more and more of our share unfortunately. That's what this lawsuit is all about. And its got me pretty pissed off, to be honest. I apologize for much of the tone of this piece, but I personally see my right to feed my children with food from our rivers threatened by this lawsuit and the greed of a small group of people. As with most things in life, if we don't stand up for our rights, we will surely lose them. Again, thanks for the work you have done over the years protecting this fishery and our right to use it.--Jake Sprankle
Save the Copper River Fishery--Encourage Farmed Salmon For Lower 48 Markets
To all of the Herb Jensens of the Copper River Commercial Fishery, I never thought I’d be saying this, but you’ve convinced me— it’s time to encourage the Lower 48 to buy farmed salmon. No more will I encourage Outsiders to buy Copper River reds or kings. In fact, I believe it’s high time we take the lessons learned from the Copper River commercial fishermen about aggressive marketing and dissuade people from buying and consuming our valuable resource.
Herb Jensen’s lawsuit seeking to abolish personal use fishing throughout the entire State of Alaska (as well as subject all State salmon fisheries to federal oversight) epitomizes the disconnect commercial fisherman of the Copper River Delta have with the realities of whose fish they are fishing. Those fish belong to Alaskans— all Alaskans, not just a small group of fisherman from one town. Don’t just take my word for it. Read your State Constitution because it states the same. And, there is no better use or purpose for those fish than feeding Alaskans. That’s why our State Constitution says what it does.
But according to Mr. Jensen, we Alaskans should not have the opportunity to feed our children with fish from our rivers. Why? Because we are taking money away from his pockets. This money grubber (personally grossing over $400K on our fish in one season according to his own statements to the NY Times) doesn’t think the thousands of Alaskans that depend on Copper River Salmon to feed their families is as important as funding his winter trips to Hawaii so he can “chase the winter blues” as he likes to write about in the Cordova Times. This money grubber, and those of his ilk, are no different than the gluttonous fat cats at AIG looking for their bonuses with one hand and accepting their bailout money with the other.
Well Mr. Jensen, to hell with you and those who share your views. How dare you try to take the salmon off of my children’s plate. There’s a million plus ways to make a dollar, but I only know of a few ways to catch a fish. Sure, I could buy my Copper River reds from the supermarket. I’m sure that would be your preference, so I can further line your pocket. But if you think that purchasing fish from a market is the same thing as catching it ourselves, clubbing it, cleaning it, hiking it out, processing it, and then watching our children eat it and be nourished by it, then sir, you’re just too stupid to understand why it is not. I’m pretty sure that you won’t understand, because after all, you think the Feds will do a better job than the State in managing our fisheries, even after all the damage they have done to this great State and its fisheries in years past.
From 1998 - 2007, as many as 10,000 people in a single year have participated in the Copper River dipnet fishery, harvesting an average of 122,134 salmon per year within this time period. This salmon harvest, which goes directly to Alaskan tables, feeding Alaskans, represents about 6% of the total catch across all consumptive users. Copper River commercial fishermen in this same time period harvested an average
1,672,571 salmon per year. Only 532 permit holders— less than 5% of the users of this fishery (and that’s not even counting sport fishers)— harvest 88.4% of the total harvest. 88.4%! But still it is not enough(?) Nope—they want our 6% too. How one small group of users can squeal so loud when they take so much is beyond me. And these numbers are for all salmon species. Allocation rates for Chinook are even more skewed.
Like a spoiled child, Mr. Jensen never learned how to share, nor did he learn much about fairness. His desire to pit Alaskan against Alaskan is sad, but unfortunately coming to fruition. This greed-based lawsuit is basically stating that there is not enough fish to go around—not enough fish to feed Alaskans and feed the greed of money grubbing commercial fishermen like him. Sounds to me like it is time the Lower 48 markets (and newspapers) learn what negative effects their buying and consuming of our limited resource is doing to Alaskans and the Copper River fishery as a whole. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game stock lakes and ponds with fish each year in order to take pressure off our native stocks (amongst other reasons). Lower 48 markets buying farmed salmon from domestic and foreign markets would do the same— take pressure off of the Copper River fishery resulting in more fish for more Alaskans. We may not have the salaries of commercial fisherman, nor the political clout (which is sadly in correlation to salary level), but we do have numbers— thousands of numbers. Perhaps the eco-friendly Seattleites will think twice about buying our fish once they know the fishery is threatened by the avarice and gluttony of these few commercial fishermen.
Those of you fishing the Kenai and Kasilof “personal use” fisheries better not think this lawsuit of greed will not affect you. It will—and your right to feed your families with fish harvested from your rivers is equally threatened. If you value your fishery, you need to act and you need to act now. Not doing anything can simply not be an option anymore.
Is discouraging Outside markets from buying our fish a good way to ensure fairness in the allocation of this precious, renewable resource? Hell no! But how many times have our pleas for more fairness from the Board of Fish fallen on deaf ears? What other options do we have? Governor after governor after governor has stacked the Board of Fish on the side of commercial fishermen, and we, the subsistence/ personal use users are left fighting year after year for our paltry 6%. And now the Herb Jensens of the world want to take even that away. Don’t let them do it. Successful marketing got us into this mess, let’s use it to get us out of it. Let the markets know—our fish are threatened by the greed, the avarice, and the gluttony of a few. We will not let them destroy this fishery or our Alaskan way of life.
Jake Sprankle is a resident of Fairbanks who appreciates being able to feed his family moose, caribou, sheep and salmon from Alaska’s lands and waters. He can be contacted at jakesprankle@gmail.com
Hello all!
Unless all of us stand united against corporate, commercial fisheries we will loose these resources PERMANENTLY!!! Support the people who are trying to save part of this fishery for all of us!! Look and be aware of what is going on with the halibut fisheries where 90%+ of the allocation goes to the commercial interests!
1. Give financial support to the CDA! Money talks! The Commercial interests have lobbyists everywhere that pretty much "Tell" the people who make decisions what to do based on economics instead of science!
2. Join the CCA, The Coastal Conservation Association at www.joincca.org. This group has expanded from the east and gulf states where the have made great gains in fisheries management and conservation successes, to the Pacific Northwest where they are lobbying to remove permanently gillnets in the Columbia river and to manage the wild runs of salmon and steelhead so they aren't preyed upon by indiscriminate gillnets and commercial fisheries!
3. Write!!! Your legislature needs your input!! Tell them how you feel! Please don't think this will go away if it's ignored!!
It's up to US to get this done!
About time these illegal fisheries were reined in. Kenai & Kasilof are next. Dune damage with no EPA studies, & shore bird habitat are just a few of the issues. Also thousands of pounds of guts and heads at the mouth of the Kenai are horrible. If a processor dummped truck loads of waste down there they would be in jail. Were does it end? About 300,000 to 400,000 fish are harvested in front of the counters and increasing yearly at a staggering rate. Not that familiar with Chitina River but just a start of what should be controlled. 5 days of setnetting last year, while the riverbank was lined with no closures to personal use fisheries. What's with that??
Go back to eating you hatched pinks!
Go back to Oregon, Washington, or which ever lower 48 state you came from because if you were a real Alaskan you would know that many of us fill our freezers for our families with these fish. We live YEAR ROUND up here and are not Fair weather Alaskans. And if you are a so-called Alaskan, make my Permanent Fund Dividend larger by leaving the state!!! Don't steal another breath of my clean Alaska air!
Chilkoot Charlie
Ok..I agree with the comment about the gawd awful behavior at the Kenai. If ppl can't clean up after themselves and act as stewards of the fine resource, close it.
Please show enough backbone to OWN your comments. I/we might disagree with you, but at least I'm honest and open about it!
I did not write the article about closing dip netting, but I agree with it. Are dip netters too lazy to catch fish with a rod and reel? There are three fisheries. Sport, commercial and subsistence. The law states that the commercial user is the primary harvester and further states that the burden of weak runs shall be shared equally by all user groups. As a commercial fisherman, if I can't fish then nobody fishes. The law states it very clearly.
We already have a hard allocation that is in the escapement goal. Enough fish for the subsistence, personal use and sport are in the escapement goal. If the escapement goal is behind at the counter the commercial guys are shut down. The only one that is going to make out on the lawsuit is the Lawyers. I have dipped for 15 years and have always had no problem getting my fish. Even last season with the poor return to the Copper. I am sure if we look at Lawyers hired there is a connection to the management of the AOC and or the CDA. Save your money and go dipping in June. See you on the riverbank.
Matt you are right , no matter what the commercial Guys are the only ones that have to conserve in times of shortage . We who dip do not have to worry about conservation , all we care about is putting food on our tables to feed our Families ,let someone else worry about conservation of the Red Salmon species .
See You on the riverbank in June
John from Fairbanks
Matt,
I'm glad you've not had trouble filling your freezer for the last 15 years. But plenty of other people don't have the same luck, skill, or perseverance - take your pick. If the personal use quota is slashed in Chitina, it will be more difficult for everyone, including you, to harvest food for you and your family instead of having to buy it.
As an ex-commercial fisherman (Kodiak, not Cordova), I'm saddened to see that commercial fishing appears to have become all about the money instead of the lifestyle, but not surprised as it seems to be the New American Way(tm). Yeah, I'm getting old ... get off my lawn 8-) BTW, I quit fishing because too many family members and friends died doing it and I had a few too many near death experiences myself. The lifestyle back then was like dipping at Chitina every day! We made enough to pay most bills, but had great, really great, lives. Maybe commercial fishing is still that way, but it doesn't sound like that's the case most of the time.
O.K. lets hear from all the conspiracy nuts out there that think ths is all about a group of people trying to fill their own pockets with more money at the expense of the little guys.... Wait.... can they really be called conspiracy "Nuts" if they are right?
I fought the commercial fishermen for over 30 years and only got ahead one time in 1999 when the board voted to restore the positive C&T for Chitina. Dipnetting has always been a subsistence activity, no matter what the commercial fish board says. They are trying to run you out of momey with their lawsuits, I am no longer an Alaskan resident but I sent in my check and for a considerable amount. If you don't support your association you don't deserve the fish. I know for a fact that Byron and the rest of the board aren't in this for their selves. The best thing you can get is a court ordered subsistence designation and the commercial guys will never get rid of that. I sent interviews with dipnetters that have been dipping since 1947 and I know of some that have been dipping since 1938. That was the year I was born , If you don't think they were "using the fish stock for subsistence purposes" you are mistaken. State law says "if a fish stock is used for subsistence" then the state "SHALL" allow subsistence fishing. It doesnt make a distintion between users only USE. Cheers and good luck on beating the commercial guys to your fish. Stan Bloom Always an Alaskan at heart.
This lawsuit to ban dipnetting is nuts. This sounds like another instance of commercial fisheries management (i.e. processors and wholesalers) trying to snatch up every dollar they can by taking a resource to the absolute limit. I assume they would want the state to lower their escapement numbers for that extra hundred thousand fish that would have ran upriver. Anyhow, I hope opposition to this goes through, The subsistance fisheries in this state are one the many things that make it great. Not every state manages its resources for those who actually live there.
I suspect there's more than just commercial fishing money behind Mr. Jensen's lawsuit. The fishermen might be deprived of $1,000,000 dollars on our 100,000 fish ... but at $7.00/lb * 100,000 fish * 5 lbs/cleaned fish, those same 100,000 fish represent $3.5 million in our dipnetting pockets. That's $2.5 million "on the table" that the fish processors, distributors and supermarkets must want in their own pockets.
Remember 15 years ago when guys would drive truckloads of halibut to Fairbanks? They'd sell whole halibut like watermelons at a roadside stand in Alabama. Anyone know what stopped that?
"Remember 15 years ago when guys would drive truckloads of halibut to Fairbanks? They'd sell whole halibut like watermelons at a roadside stand in Alabama."
I also remember when they use to drop off salmon in the huge plastic bins over in North Pole after being raped for only the eggs. Then people would take what ever fish they wanted. Most of the salmon was squished and half-rotten because no care was taken for preservation. After a day or two the fishery would drop all of the fish in the land fill.
I guarantee that more fish are wasted pound for pound by commercial fishing than any dipnetter. What would happen to one of use who decided to catch a bunch of fish and end up dumping dead fish back in to the ocean or land fill?
Now no Kings? Went from 5 to 3 and then 1...to Zero. This is called the pac-man effect. Chomp away bit by bit until there is no more.
Glad to see that with such a "Small King Run" as presented by fish and game that only personal use dipnetters and resident Alaskans are affected. When thousands of kings are being netted with mile long nets at the mouth and soon to be wasted and scwandered before they even arrive to the processors. Way to go Fish and Feathers!
That was always upsetting. Those fish could have been sold for a minimal amount to pay for ice and labor so the fish would be in decent shape when they arrived in Fairbanks. Were those fish being stripped for hatchery stock or simply to sell the eggs overseas? Is that program still going? If not, why was it stopped?