Opinions

Urban setnet initiative won't tangle up rural Alaska or subsistence rights

Fish matter for the future of Alaska. More than 43,000 Alaska voters have signed their names to support the end of commercial setnets in the urban, nonsubsistence areas of the state. They did so because this type of commercial net has devastating effects on ecosystems in heavily populated areas where there is tremendous pressure on fisheries resources.

The setnet initiative that Alaska voters will see in 2016 is not about subsistence fishing rights or the use of setnets in 70 percent of the state, in rural areas such as Bristol Bay. It is about conservation and protecting Alaska resources today and into the future.

Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance, the group advocating for the gear regulation change, supports subsistence activities and commercial fishing in Bristol Bay 100 percent. Rural subsistence fishing sustains families and communities around our coasts and along our rivers. Salmon is a treasured and majestic source of nourishment and culture for our rural residents. Approval of the initiative would not change anything about commercial fishing in nonurban areas, meaning that fishing in Bristol Bay and other such areas will continue as it currently does. It would take state legislation to change that and AFCA would not support such a law that would disallow rural setnet use.

Setnets cannot discriminate between targeted and nontargeted species, meaning they bycatch unintended fish, birds and other creatures that get tangled in their nets. Strong tides in Cook Inlet allow some of the dead fish to fall out of the nets before they are collected, leading to waste. The amount of drop-out is unknown due to insufficient observer coverage -- the fishery currently has no mandated observers -- but Cook Inlet has some of the strongest tides in the world, often changing more than 20 feet at velocities exceeding 8 knots. In Puget Sound, tide drop-out is estimated to be 3 percent. Alarmingly, setnets also catch high numbers of Kenai king salmon, which have seen a terrifying decline of over 80 percent in the Kenai River over the last decade. Shields and Dupuis found in 2013 that setnets are 150 times more likely to catch kings during sockeye fishing than drift gillnets are. If the goal is to catch sockeye while protecting kings, set nets are clearly not the best method.

Currently, the urban, nonsubsistence areas of Alaska are Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Mat-Su, Cook Inlet, Valdez, Juneau, and Ketchikan. It must be underscored that this initiative would disallow commercial setnets in those areas only. This fish harvest can be replaced with the use of other, more sustainable gear types.

A commercial setnet permit in Cook Inlet allows the permit holder to use three nets that are each 17 feet high and 210 feet long. Along the beaches above and below the Kenai River, there are over 1400 of these catch-all nets that are 600 feet apart and extend from the East Forelands to Ninilchik, a distance of 48 miles. Limited-entry setnet permit holders are also allowed to "stack" permits, meaning that they can actually fish the nets of another permit holder who is not present. These nets reach out up to 2 miles into Cook Inlet. Nothing much gets past their grasp.

The waste caused by commercial setnets in urban areas is especially tragic when you consider that other harvest means exist that can be used to replace the setnets. On the Yukon River, for example, fishermen have replaced setnets with enclosure or dipnets so they can catch chum salmon while releasing king salmon that will continue on their way to the spawning ground. In 2014, 450,000 chum salmon were harvested with this method.

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Eight other states have already banned or severely restricted the commercial use of setnets due to damage to fish stocks. Setnets indeed have a long history in the state of Alaska, but longevity alone isn't enough to warrant the continued use of a fishing method that has devastating potential. It's time for Alaskans to look ahead and protect fishery resources in our urban areas for all current and future Alaskans. Fishing -- whether commercial, subsistence, or sport -- is part of the lifeblood of Alaska culture. Fishermen of every stripe need to come together to protect our marine resources for the future. That's what banning commercial setnets in urban, nonsubsistence areas of Alaska is all about -- conservation.

Derek Leichliter is a lifelong Alaskan and was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula. He is an electrician and the owner of Legacy Electric. He previously worked as a setnetter in Nikiski.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.

Derek Leichliter

Derek Leichliter is a lifelong Alaskan and was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula. He is an electrician and the owner of Legacy Electric. Derek previously worked as a setnetter in Nikiski.

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