Cordova District Fishermen United (CDFU) is expressing thanks to the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) on social media for taking no action on hatchery proposals 170, 171, and 172 and the Tsui proposal 187.
CDFU said that hours of collaboration by harvesters, hatchery staff, fishery scientists, processors, tribal leaders and others made that outcome possible.
CDFU President Michael Hand told the fisheries board that any changes in hatchery systems should be science-driven and that proposals 170, 171 and 172 did not meet that standard. Instead they posed significant economic and access risk for all users without evidence of conservation benefit, he said.
“They support processors, tender fleets, seasonal jobs, municipal revenues, and long-term investment confidence in coastal communities,” he said. “Just as important, they supply distinct sport, personal-use, and subsistence fisheries statewide.”
Hand also characterized hatcheries as “indispensable infrastructure” for salmon research, recovery and adaptive management, providing long-term data, technical expertise, disease monitoring, and essential rebuilding capacity.
“Blanket reductions lead quickly to reduced access, fewer fishing opportunities, diminished scientific capacity, and increased pressure on already constrained wild stocks,” he said. “Blunt cuts that are outside the established permitting system lack nuanced strategy and erode staff capacity, funding, governance stability and critical scientific functions.”
Proposal 187 proposed closing the Tsui River and all water within a 1/4 mile of the Tsui River and Kaliakh River confluence to commercial salmon fishing. The restriction was targeted at addressing user group conflicts and allocating more coho salmon for sport fishing.
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