CDA: 2026 Spring Update

This newsletter was originally published on or around April 3, 2026

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Chitina Dipnetters Association
PO Box 35230
Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703
Chuck Derrick, Pres.
cderrick@chitinadipnetters.com

April 4, 2026

Chitina Dipnetters:

What a winter that was! In Interior Alaska we had prolonged extreme cold reminding me of the winters of the 1970s. Those years also had sunny warm summers so that is my amateur meteorologist forecast.

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Chitina Dipnetters Association
PO Box 35230
Ft. Wainwright, AK 99703
Chuck Derrick, Pres.
cderrick@chitinadipnetters.com

April 4, 2026

Chitina Dipnetters:

Chitina Dipnetter Association (CDA) annual membership dues are $20 and are valid from January 1 to December 31 each year and are now due for 2026. Your membership dues and purchases of CDA apparel allows this all volunteer non-profit association the means to continue to advocate for not only the Chitina dipnet fishery but also for all Alaska resident Personal Use dipnetters. This entails representation at pertinent Alaska Board of Fisheries meetings, responding to legislation affecting or of interest to our fishery, and interacting with the Dept. of Fish & Game agencies and commissioner over management of salmon dipnet fisheries. 2026 dues and apparel purchases can be made at our website chitinadipnetters.com and clicking "store". All 2026 CDA MEMBERSHIPS PURCHASED BEFORE June 1, 2026 WILL BE ENTERED IN A DRAWING FOR A COPPER RIVER DIPNET CHARTER FOR 2 WITH ALASKA EXPEDITIONS. Thank you for your support!

CDA will be manning a booth at the 2026 Fairbanks Outdoor Show April 24-26. Any CDA members that would like to help at the CDA booth for part of the 3 day event can contact Paul Harrell at pharrell@chitinadipnetters.com.

The 2026 CDA annual membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 6:30PM at the Tanana Valley Sportsman's Assn. building at 1230 TVSA WAY, Fairbanks. There will be raffle prizes, a mid-meeting smoked salmon feed, CDA board of directors elections and miscellaneous Association business, presentations by F&G on Copper River salmon management and by DOT on Chitina permit fund account monies used in 2025 and fishery access plans for 2026. CDA dues and apparel purchases will be available at both events.

F&G has come out with the 2026 salmon run forecast for the Copper River with an estimate of 1.45 million sockeye (average run) and 33,000 Chinook (weak run and 27% below 10 year average). Commercial fisheries should have very conservative openings due to the low chinook forecast.

F&G has announced they will be using the Aris sonar this season, something CDA has been pushing for, which has the capability of measuring passing salmon. The new sonar can identify and count larger chinook salmon thus getting an accurate daily in-river passage of kings though the sonar. This data will be used in real time management of Copper River fisheries to meet king spawning escapement goals.

The CDA board has already had a busy spring 2026 keeping up with dipnetter related happenings. CDA board member Erika McDaniels represented CDA at the March 17-20 Statewide Finfish Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting held in Anchorage. There she backed up, with oral testimony, CDA's written comments in opposition to Proposal 175. 175, submitted by Ahtna Inter-tribal Council, required dipnet mesh be reduced to 3.5" stretch mesh and, if passed, would force most dipnetters to buy new net mesh ($50+). 175 failed by unanimous vote. She also addressed proposal 162 (submitted by Ahtna Inter-tribal Council) to prohibit commercial transporters in subsistence fisheries. CDA opposed this knowing that transporters in Personal Use fisheries would be the next target if 162 passed. 162 failed on a unanimous vote.

CDA is also following and commented on several bills in the 2026 Alaska state legislature. HB297, which CDA supports, would place in statute a resident priority in the taking of fishery resources for personal and family consumption. HB297 is currently being held in the House Fisheries Sub-Committee. HB125 (designated seats on the BOF), which passed the Alaska House in 2025 and moved onto the Senate, has seen no movement. CDA opposes HB125 as written because it only speaks to designated seats for commercial, sport, subsistence and scientific representation. Personal Use was totally ignored even though it is a fishery use defined in statute just as sport and commercial are. If passed by the Senate as written, HB125 would deny representation on the BOF for Personal Use Fishery participants. HB33, opposed by CDA, would relax rules affecting conflict of interest where a BOF member is required to declare a conflict of interest when deliberating and voting on a proposal where they or their family have financial or personal interest in the subject of the proposal. As the rules apply now, a board member declaring a conflict of interest must recuse themselves from deliberations and only participate as a member of the public and thus have the designated 3 minutes to give public testimony. CDA feels no change to the existing rules are warranted.

CDA will be meeting with DOT and F&G in early April to discuss the Chitina PU dipnet permit funds account. We will be discussing what monies were spent in 2025 for right of way maintenance and garbage and toilet services for the Chitina dipnet fishery as well as fund balance and plans for expenditures for the 2026 Chitina dipnet season.

DOT has plans to realign the Copper River Highway Right of Way (dipnetters access to Woods Canyon dipnetting sites) around and bypassing historic native burial sites. CDA sent in comments in 2025 posing no objection to the realignment as long as it stayed within the boundaries of the existing 300' state Right of Way (ROW). Any moving uphill of the whole existing ROW could pull the river side of the ROW away from meeting the ordinary high water mark (OHWM) of the river and result in the loss of public access to the river in the realignment area. This would happen due to Ahtna owning the ground outside of the ROW and above the OHWM. Ahtna and Chitina village have requested an extension of the comment period for this project and CDA has gotten assurances from DOT that we will have time to respond to comments submitted by the two entities.

The Governor has until June to appoint 3 people to seats on the BOF. Mike Wood, Gerad Godfrey and Greg Svendsen terms will be up. CDA will be scrutinizing the Governor's picks and submitting our recommendations at legislative hearings on the appointees.

Board member Paul Delys initiated the process of digitizing and cataloging boxes of CDA historical documents. This is a project which has been on the back burner for several years and many kudos to Paul for grabbing this one by the horns.

As you all know, I have been the president of CDA for quite a few years and a board member for approximately 45 years. I have been looking for someone to take over my responsibilities. Jesse Wandling assumed the president's position for part of 2024-2025 but found he could not devote the time needed as he was beginning a new business. Erika McDaniels, CDA board member living in Wasilla, has indicated to the CDA board that she would be very excited to take on the challenge of CDA president and the CDA board has given their consent. I will be working with Erika to ease her transition into the president's position. I plan on remaining as a CDA board member.

Here's hoping you have a productive 2026 dipnetting season and that we see you at the May 12 CDA annual membership meeting. Don't miss the chance to win a dipnet charter for 2 by paying your 2026 annual CDA dues by June 1.

Chuck Derrick
CDA President

ps: We will be hosting a trivia night at Lat65 Brewing in Fairbanks on Tuesday, May 26. Show up for fun salmon related trivia, a brew or two, and CDA prizes for the top three teams. Apparel will be available and it will be the last chance for in-person membership sign-ups before the charter-for-two drawing with Alaska Expeditions on June 1.