Chitina Dipnet King Closure
Once again we are on the short end of the dip net. Today, June 4th, by emergency order, for the entire 2009 season, no king salmon can be kept as part of your Chitina dipnet bag limit. Meanwhile, the commercial fishery at Cordova is still fishing for king salmon. ADF&G says the dipnet king closure is a conservation decision to make sure there are enough kings to provide for upriver spawning escapement. It is our understanding that ADF&G will have a meeting to decide what restrictions will be needed for king sport fishing on the Gulkana and Klutina rivers. It appears for now that the only people who are looked at to protect the king salmon escapement are the "personal use" classified dipnetters and most likely sport fishermen.
As of this morning the Commercial Fish Division of ADF&G was going to have another commercial opening just off the mouth of the Copper River where a majority of the commercial king catch occurs (Editor's note: as several readers have commented, the intertidal areas, where most of the commercial king catch apparently takes place, have seen a reduction in fishing time to protect the fishery.). Subsistence fisheries above and below the Chitina dipnet boundary have taken no reduction in king bag limit. This is one reason why the Chitina Dipnetters Association has filed suit with the State of Alaska to return the dipnet fishery to subsistence status, giving it allocation priority over the commercial harvest of salmon.
If you value your ability to continue to harvest salmon in the dipnet fishery and put an end to being run over roughshod by commercial interests read of the lawsuit and donate what you can to see this suit to completion.
Lawsuit to Correctly Classify Dipnetters as Subsistence Users
The Chitina Dipnetters Association and the Alaska Outdoor Council’s sister organization, the Alaska Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund, on January 9, 2009 filed a complaint with the Fairbanks Superior Court challenging the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) recent decision to reject “subsistence” classification for the Chitina dipnet fishery. To read more and learn the specifics of our case and the State of Alaska's reply, click here.
Funding Request for Subsistance Lawsuit, May 2008
Since its inception in 1976, the Chitina Dipnetters Association (CDA) has advocated for a sustainable Copper River Salmon run and for the ability of Alaska residents to harvest salmon in the Chitina dipnet fishery. We have worked with the Governor, the legislature, state agencies and other interested parties, and have testified before the Alaska Board of Fisheries. These actions have resulted in these benefits to dipnetters:
- Continued ability to harvest salmon by dipnet
- A state land survey to determine public access to the Copper River within the fishery;
- Elimination of the $25 Chitina dipnet permit fee
- Restraint of commercial fisheries openings off the mouth of the Copper River to allow early spring salmon escapement
- Repairs of damage at O'Brien Creek caused by the 2006 hundred-year flood
- Increased harvest allocation as numbers of dipnetters increased
- A presence at Board of Fisheries meetings to defend our submitted proposals and to oppose those proposals that are detrimental to the dipnet fishery
At the CDA annual meeting in April, due to the continued inability of the State of Alaska to reestablish full public access to the Copper River at O’Brien Creek and the refusal of the Alaska Board of Fisheries to re-designate the Chitina dipnet fishery as a subsistence fishery (as was intended by the legislature when it passed the Alaska Subsistence Law), members voted to create a legal fund to get a legal opinion as to whether a lawsuit on these two issues is arguable and, if so, to proceed. CDA has amassed documentation on both issues and we feel that we have a strong case for both.
The CDA Board of Directors is sending this letter to all 2007 Chitina dipnet permit holders requesting support to initiate legal action. In 2004, due to the efforts of the CDA, the state legislature removed the $25 Chitina dipnet permit fee and we ask that you donate some of this $100 cumulative savings to our legal fund. If you feel, as we do, that the harvest priority afforded by subsistence designation and renewed full public access to the Copper River at O’Brien Creek is worth the fight to regain, then please donate what you can to get this legal action started.
For a donation of $25 or more, we will include a one-year $10 CDA membership. If you wish to donate to the legal fund or just become a member, send your check to the address below. Please indicate on your check whether it is for membership or the legal fund. If more funds come into the legal fund than needed, the excess may be used for other CDA activities, i.e., travel expenses.
We are also requesting that you include your email address or phone number so that we can contact you when dipnet issues require our collective voice. Such an issue is convincing the State to reopen the road from O’Brien Creek to Haley Creek for vehicle traffic.
CDA is a purely volunteer-run organization, and we are dedicated to the preservation of the dipnet fisheries in Alaska. Visit our website at www.chitinadipnetters.com.
Wishing you a successful and safe 2008 dipnetting season,
Chitina Dipnetters Association
1002 Pioneer Road
Fairbanks, Ak. 99701
Byron Haley- CDA President
Ph. 456-4426
Dipnetting is in Jeopardy!
Ok fellow dipnetters, here is exactly the reason why the Chitina Dipnetters Association (CDA) has so strongly argued for subsistence designation for the Chitina dipnet fishery. On Dec. 29, 2008, Herbert Jensen, a commercial drift gillnet and purse seine fisherman from Cordova, filed suit in federal district court to eliminate all personal use fisheries in Alaska, especially the personal use dipnet fishery at Chitina. Read more
Road Repairs
During the winter of 2006-2007 CDA carried on a successful campaign to get the State of Alaska to repair the October 2006 flood damage to O’brien Creek. A new bridge was built across O’brien Creek allowing ATV-only access along with repairs to the creek floodplain. Improved pull offs and new camping pads were also created by DOT beside the road to O’brien Creek. Although the Chitina Dipnetters Association's position is to see the road between O’brien and Haley Creeks open again to 4 wheel drive vehicles, that remains an uphill battle. Read more
