Take action: Reduce halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea
I am a young commercial fisherman. I look to the future in the hopes that my livelihood will sustain me, my community and the generations to come. I write to you to take action in reducing halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea.
As a halibut consumer and commercial halibut fisherman, I strongly support immediate action to reduce halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea by at least 50 percent. Bering Sea halibut fisheries are facing a crisis. The harvest levels recommended by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) for 2015 would reduce catch limits for Area 4CDE by 71 percent from 2014 levels. Harvests in the directed halibut fisheries in this region dropped by 69 percent from 2007-2013. At the same time, halibut bycatch limits have remained virtually unchanged at more than 7 million pounds.
In 2015, if the IPHC's recommended harvest limits for Area 4CDE are adopted, this means that 92 percent of the total halibut harvest will be allocated as bycatch, with only a tiny 8 percent left over for the directed fisheries, for anyone who fishes halibut. Imagine having a holiday dinner and sharing with your friends, family and neighbors. Then imagine throwing 92 percent of that away and then splitting the remaining 8 percent to feed your family, community and those who are dependent on that meal. This 8 percent left for dedicated fisheries is an incredibly small amount left for anyone who fishes or enjoys halibut.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires, under National Standard 9, that bycatch be reduced. National Standard 8 requires councils provide for the sustained participation of fishery-dependent communities, but unless the council acts now, Bering Sea communities will be cut off from this historic fishery while trawlers are allowed to continue killing halibut in the very same area.
Communities dependent on the halibut resource, and the resource itself, do not have the luxury of waiting for reductions to be made eventually: Bycatch reductions must be made now. Halibut bycatch should be reduced by no less than 50 percent. I strongly support, on behalf of all those who consume or fish halibut, that immediate action be taken.
-- Amy Schaub
Homer
State should implement fair, equitable marijuana policy
Like it or not, marijuana will be legal. So to all the politicians, public figures and "no" voters, it's time to stop throwing temper tantrums, bullying, stonewalling and preaching "let's wait and see" before implementing a marijuana policy. Since when does Alaska follow the ideas and ideals of the Lower 48? How about "seeing" how "we the people already voted." There is no second-guessing the vote; there is no renegotiation of an election. For those officials voted in by a majority, the minority has to accept their defeat; that's a part of democracy.
Now, it is your duty to carry out the goals of the voters as expressed in the election results. It's not optional. Alaskans aren't followers, Alaskans are leaders. Alaska should lead the way by implementing a fair and equitable marijuana policy -- a marijuana policy allowing professional and individual manufacturing, development, public sales and consumption, just like alcohol.
The legalization of marijuana was voted in by a majority and in a democracy, majority rules. That's the game, those are the rules. Let's show everyone how it's done.
-- Tom Fazzini
Anchorage