Pollock politics

Thank you for the June 23 article on the Bering Sea pollock fleet and the impact on Alaska's precious salmon resources. Alaskans are facing huge salmon catch reductions due to limited resources. Yet, in one year, the factory trawler industry catches 122,000 incidental king salmon and more than 700,000 other incidental salmon species. When the bycatch is pulled in, they are dead or dying and are thrown overboard.

Industry spokeswoman Stephanie Madsen defended the industry in the article, "Bering Sea pollock fleet faces closure over salmon."

"We hope people understand that we're not just out there hammering away and that we are aware of the bycatch situation," Madsen said.

Wanton waste of this Alaska resource is wrong. In recent years, the fleet of about 100 pollock trawlers, owned by large outside corporations, have intercepted record numbers of salmon bound for rivers in Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Asia and Alaska.

Madsen wants to represent Juneau in the Alaska Legislature. Haven't we learned from the VECO mess? Legislators need to be free to undue corporate financial control.

Gary Heiker

Juneau