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Date Posted: 10:14:25 08/08/10 Sun
Author: Don Johnson
Subject: Kodiak Area Intercept Commercial Fisheries


Kodiak Area Intercept Commercial Fisheries

ABSTRACT:

How can the State of Alaska explain wasting 4 billion dollars each year by allowing Kodiak Area Commercial Fisheries
to intercept sport allocated king salmon stocks? Alaska's Kodiak Area Commercial Fisheries literary guard
the front-door to our Cook Inlet Fisheries. Listed below are many of the reasons for the ever REDUCING
number of salmon reaching the waters of the Kenai River.
Our Kenai River's early & late runs of kings are in officially jeopardy of being wiped off the map
because of these constantly increasing saltwater commercial fisheries. Our 2010 early run of kings hardly got started
on the Kenai River when the ADF&G closed it down for a lack of 1,500 projected king salmon.
Then we looked forward to the 2010 late run of kings, hoping that they were not also commercially intercepted.
Unfortunately our hopes were not achieved as we watched the late run also get intercepted.
Anchorage has been screaming for years that their July salmon are being intercepted by commercial gill netters
and now so are the Kenai Rivers early and late runs of kings. Anglers have just about tied both arms behind their
backs to help these runs, mean while Kodiak commercial gill netters have constantly increased their king
salmon by-catch every summer. Kodiak area commercial fisheries went from intercepting only a few
thousand kings each year, to now intercepting 40,000 - 50,000 every year.
Few anglers will pay much attention as long as they can catch a couple fish now and then, but now
they won't even get that, they will get little to nothing. They will continue to catch nothing as long as they refuse
to see our ever expanding Kodiak area commercial gill-net fisheries.

KODIAK INTERCEPT FISHERIES

At the February, 2002 Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting, the Alaska Department of
Fish & Game [ ADF&G ] announced that it believed that the historic, larger king salmon
within the Kenai rivers first run, were on the decline. The ADF&G announced its concerns
with little if any warning and most fisheries use groups were totally blind-sided by it.
When the early run data was presented, most of the use groups just accepted it at face value.
When informed that other saltwater factor's could be involved, most of the user groups ingnored
the thought and did not even investigate the possibility, let alone bring it before the Board.
Most of the user groups final word on saltwater factors was that " there are no saltwater fisheries involved
within the early run problem". This short-sighted belief is no doubt the largest error made at this meeting.
Because most user goups were basically caught off-guard, none of them were able to fully use
their normal resources to review all the possible factors involved within this complex problem.

Now that we will have another shot at this issue we owe it to ourselves to do the best job
that we can do. That job takes into consideration that this time we should carefully consider
ALL FACTORS which may impact the king salmon which are attempting to return to both the
Kenai and Kasilof rivers. The NUMBER ONE consideration which was never
investigated at the above February meeting, was Kodiak area commercial saltwater interception factors.
These intercept fisheries are imbedded within what will be termed " Kodiak Interception Fisheries ".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE REAL VALUE OF A KING SALMON

Some 1,340 commercial fishermen are allocated about 85-90 percent of the Cook Inlet salmon harvest,
while 216,000 sport anglers and an unknown number of personal users receive only 10 -15 percent
of that same harvest. The 2004 Kenai Peninsula Borough Comprehensive Plan shows the economic impact
of sportfishing on the Kenai Peninsula was worth $664 million in 2003, while commercial fishing was
valued at $54 million in 2002. Set-net fishermen receive about 80 cents per pound for a 40-pound king salmon;
the sport angler spends about $1,200 to catch a 40-pound king! That comes down to $40 per pound sport and
80 cents per pound commercial. This results in a resource want and waste factor to the state of $39.20 per pound
when a king salmon is allocated to commercial users.

In 2004, the Upper Cook Inlet commercial east-side setnet fishery harvested more second-run Kenai River
kings as by-catch than the entire sportfishery caught. The ADF&G recorded that commercial east-side setnets
"accidentally" caught 22,000 kings, while sport anglers caught 18,000 kings.
Does it mean anything to you that from 1998-2002, our ADF&G "recorded" an averaged 6,700 incidental king harvest
by these same set-nets? Before 2002 an average of 6,700 annually and in 2004, 22,000 kings? That's a three fold
increase in the second-run king by-catch by ADF&G's own records.

Kodiak Area Commercial Interception Fisheries and 4 Billion Dollars

In 2009 the total number of total Kodiak commercial harvest was 110,773,000 pounds
of salmon and they received about a maximum of a dollar per pound; that gives a
commercial catch value of $35,640,000 USD. Using the above sport/commercial fisheries
dollar value ratio, sportfisheries are willing to pay about $39.20 more per pound
than commercial fish processors.
2009's catch of 110,773,000 pounds of Kodiak salmon multiplied by $39.20 comes to,
[110,773,000 pounds X $39.20 per pound ] = $4,312,000,000.
That is roughly a 4 billion dollar State waste! Each year!
This means that the State of Alaska wastes a possible 4 billion dollar natural resource
surplus each year when it allocated these fish to commercial fisheries instead
of sportfisheries. 4 billion dollars is a lot money to waste; especially when the State of Alaska
gets upset with its residents if they WANT & WASTE even five pounds of wild-game during a hunt!
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8236

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below are our current and past ADF&G, early run, Kenai River king salmon totals.

2010 - 675 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 30.
2009 - 1759 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2008 - 2590 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2007 - 1204 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2006 - 2048 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2005 - 1624 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2004 - 2288 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2003 - 2630 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2002 - 895 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2001 - 3133 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
2000 - 1862 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1999 - 3422 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1998 - 1052 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1997 - 3081 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1996 - 3387 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1995 - 3499 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1994 - 4481 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1993 - 2979 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1992 - 1368 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1991 - 992 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1990 - 1559 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1989 - 3900 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
1988 - 5574 early run Kenai River king salmon, cumulative by May 31.
http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Fishcounts/index.cfm/FA/main.displayResults
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historic Kodiak Commercial Fisheries Intercept Information.

In 2010 The Department of Fish & Game claims that there is a problem with the escapment of both
king salmon and larger king salmon, within the Kenai's river first run. The below ADF&G data is showing that
if a Kenai river problem really does exist, that there are clearly also saltwater factors involved.
It would be very short-sighted for anyone to claim that only in-river users could cause such large a river problem.
100% of the Kenai rivers early run king salmon must swim through the Kodiak Intercept gauntlet.

According to ADF&G's own data these Kodiak fisheries are TWICE as effective
as Cook Inlets commercial fisheries in July. Any fishery which was even close to Cook Inlets
July commercial fisheries should have been placed under a microscope by our Alaska Board of Fish
but instead, it has not even been addressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
200 miles south of the Kenai river there are only two ways for a Kenai or Kasilof
king salmon to enter into Cook Inlet. These two paths consist of a northern and eastern
entrance around Kodiak Island. The Shelikof Straits make-up the southern entrance and
the Kennedy & Stevenson entrances combine to make-up the eastern entrance.
KODIAK MAP PICTURE
http://www.jobmonkey.com/alaska/html/maps.html
KODIAK MAP PICTURE
http://www.kodiak.org/swakmap.html

Kodiak island & surrounding area map.
Both of these entry points are heavy guarded by intense commercial, sport and subsistence
fisheries within the month of June. In June of 2001 the Kodiak commercial fishery took
23,827 king salmon. 91% of these kings were taken by Kodiak Purse Seiners and 8%
taken by Kodiak Set Gillnets. Kodiak sport fishing took 8,541 king salmon in 2001, with 351 kings being taken
by Kodiak subsistence fisheries.
----------------------------------------------------------
23,827 Commercial King salmon 73%
8,541 Sport King salmon --------- 26%
+ 351 Subsistence King salmon 1%
--------------------------------------------------------------
32,719 King salmon taken in 2001 within Kodiak Management Area Fisheries.

73% of total reported, king salmon taken by Kodiak commercial fisheries were taken by the Kodiak Commercial Seine Fishery.
What is a Seine Fishery? click here - http://www.jobmonkey.com/alaska/html/purse_seining.html

The Kodiak Commercial Seine Fleet fully guards both Cook Inlet Entrances and removed 21,611 king salmon from these
entrances in June of 2001. Kodiak set gill netting also removed 2,216 more king salmon in 2201.

KODIAK MAP PICTURE
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/images/kodiak_map_hg_sm.jpg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kodiak Intercept Fisheries have grown substantially in the last 10 years and this can
be clearly seen by the rapid increase in its total king salmon catch.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KODIAK MANAGEMENT AREA COMMERCIAL SALMON ANNUAL
MANAGEMENT REPORT, 2001

Historical Commercial King Salmon Catch In The Kodiak Management Area,
1899 - 2001. Commercial gill net, seine and troller King salmon harvested.
[ page 44]. King Salmon Harvested
www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr98-01.pdf
Year Kings
1899 ---- 1,104
1905 ---- 2,496
1909 ---- 3,907
1917 ---- 1,457
1927 ---- 4,358
1931 ---- 1,541
1936 ---- 2,548
1945 ---- 2,021
1951 ---- 2,402
1959 ---- 1,837
1972 ---- 1,300
1981 ---- 1,418
1987 ---- 4,612
1990 ---- 18,806
1991 ---- 22,233
1992 ---- 24,299
1995 ---- 18,704
1997 ---- 18,728
2001 ---- 23,827
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial salmon harvest by gear type in the Kodiak Management Area, 2001.
Early Run Commercial fishing begins June 5th.
Purse Seine --- 21,611 King salmon - 91%
Set gillnet --- 2,216 King salmon - 8%
--------------------------------------------------------
23,827 Commercial king salmon
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr98-01.pdf

Historical Sport Fish King Salmon Catch In The Kodiak Management Area
1977 - 2001. King Salmon Harvested
Year Kings
1977 ---- 483
1979 ---- 752
1981 ---- 789
1984 ---- 921
1986 ---- 520
1990 ---- 996
1991 ---- 2,508
1992 ---- 2,217
1993 ---- 5,092
1994 ---- 3,166
1995 ---- 2,662
1997 ---- 5,221
1998 ---- 4,052
1999 ---- 6,791
2000 ---- 9,629
2001 ---- 8,541
www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr98-01.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsistence early run, salmon fishery harvest
Kodiak Management Area. [ Page 54 ]
King Salmon Harvested
Year Kings
1990 --- 131 King Salmon
1991 --- 177 King Salmon
1992 --- 318 King Salmon
1993 --- 243 King Salmon
1994 --- 205 King Salmon
1995 --- 175 King Salmon
1996 --- 253 King Salmon
1997 --- 383 King Salmon
1998 --- 350 King Salmon
1999 --- 296 King Salmon
2000 --- 351 King Salmon
2001 --- 351 King Salmon, est. not final
www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr98-01.pdf
----------------------------------------------------------
23,827 Commercial king salmon 73%
+ 8,541 Sport king salmon --------- 26%
351 Subsistence king salmon 1%
--------------------------------------------------------------
32,719 King salmon were taken in 2001 within Kodiak Management Area Fisheries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were 12,069 king salmon commercially harvested within the Cook Inlet Area
in July & August of 2002.
There were 32,719 king salmon caught within Kodiak Fisheries in June of 2001.
This demonstrates a combined June Kodiak commercial/sport/subsistence harvest
which is TWICE as effective as Cook Inlets July commercial fishery.

http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8236

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr98-01.pdf

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recent History of Chinook Salmon Harvests in Marine Waters of ...

Recent history of chinook salmon harvests in marine waters of ... from chinook salmon
harvested in commercial salmon fisheries near Kodiak, 1980-1995.
www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr98-01.pdf


http://google.state.ak.us/search?sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+kodiak+commercial+salmon+history&site=DFG&client=DFG&proxystylesheet=DFG&output=xml_no_dtd&submit.x=19&submit.y=14

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ALASKA'S STATEWIDE COMMERCIAL INTERCEPTION OF KING SALMON
2007 - 563,807 king salmon
2006 - 625,760 King Salmon
2005 - 680,329 King Salmon
2004 - 802,989 King Salmon
2003 - 613,870 King Salmon
2002 - 557,305 King Salmon
Statewide Alaska Commercial King Salmon Bycatch, 1970-2007
http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/finfish/salmon/catchval/history/1970-2007s.php
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Alaska Commercial Salmon Catch & Value Chart http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/finfish/salmon/catchval/history/all_1878.php

For additional information regarding Alaska's salmon fisheries
please contact dfg.dcf.info@alaska.gov.





Additional Kodiak commercial gill-net interception web posts.
Dear Alaska Board of Fisheries Member:
http://www.voy.com/177140/4/21.html
KODIAK INTERCEPT FISHERIES & USER PARACHUTES
http://www.voy.com/177140/4/20.html
Kodiak Gill Net Intercept Fishery
http://www.voy.com/177140/4/17.html
Kodiak / Cook Inlet king bycatch relationship
http://www.voy.com/177140/4/14.html
----------------------------------------------------------
CONCLUSION:


If we could ever get the Alaska Board of Fish to address saltwater interception of Kenai salmon,
they would discover a large increase in gill-net king interception by both Kodiak area gill-nets.
The Kodiak area used to take maybe a few thousand kings back 10 - 20 years ago, now they are
intercepting 30 - 40,000 kings annually and those are the cannery numbers, we have no idea what
isn't making it to the canneries. It is my opinion that if the Kodiak area is admitting to 30 - 40,000
intercepted kings, then Cook Inlet is no doubt doing the same but just doing a better job of covering it up.
We are really looking at a possible 100,000 king interception between the two commercial fisheries.
Again the problem is no doubt happening in the saltwater. Just about all Cook Inlets rivers and streams
are experiencing a problem with returning kings, that speaks to a much larger problem than any
individual location. I have spoken to the ADF&G about this general problem and they basically agree
that the problem appears to be happening at sea and not on the spawning grounds.
The facts show that all of Cook Inlet is experiencing a wide-spread problem with returning kings,
which points to a problem at sea. The facts also show that our sport fisheries can only effect about 5 - 15%
of any run therefore any solution solely addressed by sportfish restrictions, would not be effective.
All this points to the fact that if you wanted to address a reduced early or late run king problem,
you will have to do it by restricting salt-water gill-netting.
The problem with both our Cook Inlet & Kodiak area salmon management plans is that they are all
set-up with a sockeye priority. As long as you can't prove that commercial fishing will totally wipe-out
the kings, what-ever they do is okay.
In order to stop the gill-nets you would need absolute data which says Kenai kings are being wipe-out.
Since we don't have that kind of data, thanks to the ADF&G mis-management of its Kenai River king
salmon sonar, any shut-down that would stick would no doubt only apply to everyone but the gill-netters.
The only real way to shut-down these gill-netters is to accurately count Kenai River king salmon and
show that they are systematically being wiped out over time. Without this reality data both Kodiak
and Cook Inlet commercial fisheries will go on wiping out Kenai River king salmon, even while the
inaccurate Kenai River sonar equipment continues to count phantom kings into the future.
That future will be one of great king salmon sonar escapement numbers, while no angler is able
to catch a fish. We need to get the Alaska Board of Fish to address these increasing Kodiak Area
Commercial Intercept Fisheries.

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