The Board of Fisheries met in Sitka from February 23rd - March 3, addressing SE finfish and groundfish proposals. On Friday the Board took action on groundfish proposals aimed at spiny dogfish and state waters sablefish.
The Board opposed a proposal to allow a pot fishery for spiny dogfish
The Board did not take action on proposals that would have allowed pots in the Chatham and Clarence sablefish fisheries (Dept of Law determined that the BOF did not have authority to permit additional pot gear in the limited entry Clarence pot fishery; the Board did not authorize pot gear in the Chatham Strait fishery.)
The Board adopted a substitute proposal that established the following limits for personal use sablefish harvest in SE state waters:
- 50 sablefish annual limit per household permit, and
- 350 hook limit per household permit, and
- 200 sablefish vessel limit per trip.
Governor Walker and Lt. Governor Mallott Release Transition Team Reports
January 20, 2015 JUNEAU - Governor Bill Walker and Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott today released the Transition Team Conference reports to the public via the Governor’s website (link below). A common theme among the 17 working groups is a call for an open, accountable and participatory government.
More than 250 Alaskans were charged with identifying and agreeing upon the top five priorities in 17 categories during a two-day conference held in Anchorage in late November. Each working group was comprised of a diverse body of individuals representing a wide range of expertise and opinions. Their goal was to work together not only on priorities, but also to identify barriers to success and actions that could be taken to address those barriers.
* Link to Transition Report: http://gov.alaska.gov/Walker/transition-2014.html
* The Fisheries Transition team was not allowed to address allocation issues (eg bycatch).
* ALFA's Executive Director, Linda Behnken, served on the Fisheries Transition Team.