My Turn: Red king crab comments inaccurate
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My Turn: King crab catastrophe in the making
Michael Fleming's My Turn in Tuesday's Empire contained numerous inaccuracies about management of Juneau area personal use and commercial red king crab fisheries and demonstrated a lack of understanding about how regulations that guide allocation among users of fishery resources are developed and implemented in the state of Alaska.
The Department of Fish and Game conducts extensive red king crab stock assessment surveys throughout the region, including Section 11-A (local Juneau area), and determines total harvest levels based on survey results. The department does not make the "allocative" decisions on harvest sharing of crab between personal use and commercial fishers in Section 11-A. The Alaska Board of Fisheries decides these issues by developing regulations in an open public process that allows participation by all.
During the 1995-96 meeting cycle, the Board of Fisheries adopted a "Section 11-A Red King and Blue King Crab Management and Allocation Plan." That plan has been modified in subsequent board meetings. The board's plan recognizes the historic use of king crab in Section 11-A by both personal use and commercial users by allocating 50 percent of the Section 11-A guideline harvest level (GHL) to the summer personal use fishery (July 1-Sept. 30), 10 percent to the winter personal use fishery (Oct. 1-March 31), and when abundance levels throughout Southeast Alaska exceed conservative harvest threshold levels, the remaining 40 percent of the Section 11-A GHL is allocated to the commercial fishery. When threshold levels are not met, no commercial fishery is held in Southeast Alaska and the entire Section 11-A GHL is allocated to the personal use fishery. Thus, Mr. Fleming's claim that the "good ol" boys" of ADF&G succumb to "political pressures from greedy commercial interests" to schedule a commercial fishery in Section 11-A are completely false.
Rather, these decisions are specified in regulations developed in a public process that Mr. Fleming and anyone else can and should participate in.
To clarify another matter, the management plan specifies the department manage the Section 11-A personal use fisheries so that the summer and winter seasons last as long as possible within the allocation plan. In order to do this, the plan directs the department to use bag and possession limits, seasonal limits, and pot limits. The personal use limits of two crabs per day and 20 crab per household imposed on the summer personal use fishery this year were in effect to abide by the board's directive to extend the fishery as long as possible.
Mr. Fleming complains about the hardship of having to "tote around an 8.5 x 14 sheet of paper to record all of the crab caught." He should be aware that tracking and documentation of personal use harvests is a critical factor in responsible management of the Section 11-A red king crab stock. In fact, irrespective of whether users or the department likes having to deal with personal use crab permits, the board adopted a regulation that requires the department to issue personal use permits to the Alaska residents wanting to personal use fish for red king crab in Section 11-A.
Mr. Fleming's statement that ADF&G is sending a strong allocative message to personal use fishers by closing the summer season is wrong.
In fact, the department is doing its job by closing the fishery when in-season data analysis indicates the summer personal use GHL has been taken. The personal use fishery will open again on Oct. 1 to harvest the winter portion of the personal use GHL.
Mr. Fleming's column was filled with misleading, derogatory and erroneous statements about my agency's staff and our management program, and demonstrated a lack of understanding of how fishery regulations are developed in Alaska. ADF&G is simply following state regulations developed in the open public Board of Fisheries forum. Any member of the public who wishes to see regulatory change can get involved with the Board of Fisheries process by either testifying at scheduled meetings or submitting proposals to change the way things are done. Thanks for the opportunity to set the record straight.
Frank Rue is commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Game.