When ‘enhancement’ Really Means Elimination

I’ve spent November to April working on Alaska Board of Fish issues, proposals, and comments (again!) and I’m sick of it. We’ve been fighting the local aquaculture aggrandizement for SIXTEEN years. When I worked my first season on a salmon seiner in Resurrection Bay, there were 6 seiners working hard, from the 6am start until the wind blew too hard to make fishing worthwhile. Every day that we could as the salmon returned.

Now there’s one–that is ONE– boat working (not very hard) because the ONLY opportunity to fish is given to the aquaculture association.

But that’s not the worst of it. Nope. Here’s the worst: they killed off the early natural run and fucked up their man-made run, so the return is so bad that no one is catching salmon. Because they’ve been decimated.

I can’t wait for that weir to be removed and the aquaculture association, too. This is the year it should happen…any day now…