Coastal Conservation Association

In S.E. Alaska, there are four major groups fighting over Salmon and Halibut, they are Commercial, Charter, Sport and Subsistence. Subsistence by the way is a permit you can get in only certain rural areas that allows you to catch fish or hunt only for your personal subsistence. Native groups rights to harvest also fall within subsistence. Subsistence rights to fish are the very last to be curtailed as many of us must fish and hunt in order to eat during the winter. Store bought food costs at least twice as much in S.E. Alaska as it does in any area of the lower 48 due to the expense of shipping. Much of S.E. Alaska is accessible only by boat or plane.

This allocation subject is almost always at the forefront of any discussion regarding fishing. The commercial fishermen (of which I belong) are very upset at the amount of fish that the Charter Fleet are allowed to harvest, and that the Charter Fleet frequently take more than their allocation. Charter Captains (who I deal with professionally and personally every day) have been labeled "Charter Nazi's" and they are shown a great deal of hatred by the other three groups, but especially from the Commercial group. Most Local Charter Captains in no way deserve this label, nor do they deserve the hatred. There are quite a few Charter Captains who come in from other areas of the country who do not have ties to the S.E. community. Some of these Captains have caused the majority of the problems that the Charter Fleet face, probably sounds familiar in one way or another to issues that every community faces.

Sport and subsistence receive about the most respect, but they also take the least amount of this resource. The Native subsistence group have watched this historical resource dwindle to the point that it is quite difficult to catch enough to live off of, especially if you are attempting to harvest using the tools and teachings of your ancestors. Where you could have easily caught enough to feed your family for a week or so with just a short row out and an hour or two of effort 20 years ago has now become a two hour ride in a high powered skiff and a day of work. The cost of this has sky rocketed due to fuel and regulations and has led to health issues as people can no longer live off of their historical food sources.

Although the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) resolved major land issues for the original Alaskans, the US Government decided that the fishing rights and resources were not the rightful possession of the Native Tribes and as such the Native Tribes were not allocated much in that manner.

On top of all this mess, there are numerous groups that oversee fishing in Alaskan waters, Canada is one of the voices at the table since many of these fish come from Canadian waters originally.

The end result of all of these different voices, groups and demands is a great deal of anger and animosity. Lots of name calling and even outright hatred. Most Alaskans keep at least one or two firearms within reach due to the natural dangers, even on a boat as it can be quite a fight to bring a 200 pound halibut into a 17 foot skiff. We've even lost a great commercial Captain who was unable to overcome one of those big butts while out single handing his 32 foot troller. So at times even those weapons get waved about or a short pop in front of your boat if someone feels you are encroaching on their hole.

I would hate to see this anger and hatred make its way into the C-Brat fold. I realize that I rarely ever post here and have no say in this site, but I do occasionally get a minute to catch up and track old friends. I hope that this subject which has made so many enemies up in this area does not have that effect on the C-Brat community!
 
Here in North Carolina the Marine Fisheries agency is, though the President-Pro-Tem of the State Senate and other powerful legislators, owned and operated by the commercial fishing interests. They are the ones responsible for the status of the flounder, grouper (you name it) stocks. We have just inaugurated our new Salt Water Fishing License in order to quantify the recreational sector. The CCA has been THE voice of recreational fishermen in this fight, and the small victories already obtained (slot reds 17-21"; limit of one; no targeting of reds by commercials) would have been impossible w/o CCA. As for the PNW, I can't imagine that spurning such a potential ally would be a good idea.
 
Back
Top