Federal cash should soon be in hand for Alaska fishermen, processors and towns hurt by the 2016 pink salmon failure

About $2.4 million in disaster funds is set aside for municipalities and nearly $4 million will go to pink salmon research - $450,000 to Kodiak’s Kitoi Bay Hatchery for its Saltwater Marking Sampling project; $680,000 to the Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring Survey to help with pink salmon forecasting; and $2.5 million to the Alaska Hatchery Research Project that since 2010 has studied interactions of hatchery and wild salmon in Prince William Sound and Southeast.

Fishery disasters also were declared for the 2018 cod collapse in the Gulf of Alaska and the sockeye salmon failure at Chignik. Recipients should fare better if Congress approves a bipartisan bill introduced last week by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif.. The bill, Fishery Failures: Urgently Needed Disaster Declarations Act (Fishery FUNDD Act), would improve the federal fishery disaster process and set a strict timeline for payout of funds.

As Rep. Stutes readied for Juneau for the start of the Alaska legislative session, she said she was “optimistic.”

“I feel like the people of Alaska have sent a message to the administration and I’m hoping the administration will be a little more willing to interact with the Legislature,” she said. “That was a big stumbling block last year. We did not have much communication between the administration and the Legislature. And you just don’t get anything done when you have such a divided body. I’m optimistic that we can come together as a unit and protect Alaskans.”

As chair of the fisheries committee, Stutes said a top priority will be ensuring a robust Fish and Game budget.

“When you cut the Fish and Game budget, you’re cutting revenue to the state,” she said.

In terms of fishery measures left over from last session, Stutes said a goal is to pass a bill (HB 35) that resolves conflict-of-interest protocols for the state Board of Fisheries.

“When you have a board member who has expertise in a certain area and is conflicted out and can’t even express his knowledge to other board members, what’s the point of having him on the board?” she explained. “This bill will allow them to participate in the conversation but will not allow them to vote on the issue. We’ve been trying to change this for 14 years and this is the closest we’ve come.”

Another Stutes bill (HB 185) aims to rewrite the 2018 Derelict Vessel Act to exempt boats already licensed with the state Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. The new law requires that owners of all boats over 24 feet register in person at a Department of Motor Vehicles office, including those already documented by the Coast Guard.

“That’s kind of a double whammy for individuals who already have registered through the CFEC. It’s a duplication of information,” Stutes explained. “The idea is not to create additional revenue for the state, but to create a database so they have access to ownership to vessels that are in Alaska waters.”

A first-ever, 10-year study estimates the numbers and values of what the Tongass and Chugach rivers and streams contribute to Alaska’s commercial salmon industry.

The Tongass is the largest national forest in the U.S. at nearly 27,000 square miles and covers most of Southeast Alaska. The adjacent Chugach at half the size ranks as the nation’s second largest forest and covers the Copper River delta, Prince William Sound, and part of the Kenai Peninsula.

The study results showed that from 2007 to 2016 the two forests contributed 48 million salmon on average each year to commercial fisheries, with a dockside value of $88 million.