Cook Inlet setnetters turn to seining in effort to save east side fishery

1 month ago

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For nan 2nd twelvemonth successful a row, nan Alaska Department of Fish and Game has mostly barred complete 400 licence holders successful Cook Inlet’s eastbound broadside commercialized setnet fishery from putting immoderate cogwheel successful nan h2o this year. This summer, 1 group of setnetters is deploying experimental cogwheel they dream will sphere king salmon runs and connection alleviation to nan fishery.

On a caller overcast Thursday, Brian and Lisa Gabriel walk nan time astatine nan beach. Astride greenish and yellowish tractors, they centrifugal toward nan extremity of a commercialized sportfishing nett that’s been pulled onto Cook Inlet’s shores. The nett wriggles pinch shiny, metallic sockeye salmon, which scatter fishermen pinch bedewed soil arsenic they flop around.

A waiting squad of astir 10 group plucks nan food from nan nett and tosses them into waiting totes, wherever they aquatics successful murky water. One aliases 2 group occasionally peel disconnected from nan group, holding handfuls of writhing flounder they hurl backmost into nan inlet.

The progressive food tin beryllium a spot of a mess, but for nan Gabriels, they’re an important parameter of success. The Gabriels are sportfishing pinch a seine net. In business pinch nan state, they’re piloting and financing an experimental cognition they dream will supply alleviation to 1 of nan inlet’s oldest commercialized fisheries.

For generations, nan Gabriels person participated successful Cook Inlet’s eastbound broadside commercialized setnet fishery. That fishery’s been astir since nan precocious 1800s and is simply a longstanding family contented for galore licence holders connected nan Kenai Peninsula.

Lisa and her hubby Brian, who’s besides nan politician of Kenai, person been group gillnetting since nan 1980s. In consequence to caller unprecedented limits connected nan fishery, they are taking matters into their ain hands. With a typical licence from nan Alaska Department of Fish and Game, they’re dusting disconnected a sportfishing method they considered a decade ago. The mates thinks nan caller method could supply alleviation to licence holders facing different twelvemonth of nary fishing.

“Just by mishap 1 time, we pulled our nets successful and disconnected nan 1 net, conscionable because we had nary beach,” Lisa said. “And my dada and I, erstwhile we pulled it in, we noticed that location was really food that weren’t gilled.”

Gillnets drawback erstwhile food aquatics into nan diamond-shaped spaces successful nan net. Gills get caught connected nan net, and nan food can’t aquatics away. That makes nan nets effective for catching fish, but besides intends astir of nan food are dormant by nan clip nan nett is pulled retired of nan water. That tin beryllium problematic erstwhile fishermen drawback a non-target type — successful nan formed of nan eastbound broadside setnet fishery, king salmon.

For this project, nan Gabriels are utilizing custom seine nets. Those nets person smaller diamonds and create a obstruction against food passage. Instead of catching food by nan gills, nan nett billows pinch nan tide and scoops nan food erstwhile it’s pulled backmost onto nan shore. When nan nett hits nan beach, nan food are still alive, including nan occasional king salmon.

Brian says a sportfishing method that allows setnetters to get backmost successful nan h2o while besides preserving king runs could beryllium a “game-changer” for nan fishery.

“Hopefully, it’s thing different fishermen will get down arsenic an option,” he said. “Because really, I don’t see, you know, nan king salmon coming backmost really anytime soon. So, if we tin not drawback kings and beryllium capable to harvest sockeye, that makes america a beautiful ethical fishery.”

The Fish and Game closes nan eastbound broadside setnet fishery erstwhile it expects nan Kenai River’s late-run king salmon fishery will autumn short of authorities escapement goals. East broadside setnetters aren’t sportfishing for king salmon — they target sockeye. But sometimes, king salmon extremity up successful their nets anyway.

The authorities has tried to minimize king salmon bycatch by importantly limiting nan fishery’s hours. Last year, nan authorities went 1 measurement further by closing nan fishery outright earlier nan play began. The unprecedented move was swiftly condemned by licence holders who said their measurement of life was connected nan line.

This year, nan authorities Board of Fish offered a compromise. They approved an emergency measurement that allows commercialized fishermen successful Cook Inlet to usage dipnets. For Brian and Lisa Gabriel, that wasn’t realistic. So, they put their ain thought guardant — to usage seine nets.

“We person been talking to nan Board of Fish — nan first point for illustration this was to person what we telephone impervious of concept, right?” he said. “So you sewage to get past that stage, like, yeah, this is feasible, is it economically viable? All of these kinds of checking these boxes? Number 1 — nan number 1 box: Are you redeeming kings? You know, that’s nan full constituent of this.

As of Friday, nan cognition has caught 10 king salmon, each of which were released live backmost into Cook Inlet. No king salmon longer than 34 inches had been caught done nan trial fishery.

The Gabriels’ licence is valid until nan extremity of August and allows them to food nan aforesaid hours arsenic commercialized dipnetters — 3 12-hour days per week. They tin waste immoderate salmon caught during that clip to thief recoup nan costs of moving nan trial fishery. They tin trial cogwheel connected non-dipnetting days, but can’t support immoderate of nan fish.

Their cognition includes Robert Begich, a retired fisheries biologist pinch Fish and Game whose position is simply a stipulation of authorities support of nan permit.

“I’m nan perceiver connected nan projects, biologist perceiver to guarantee that each kings are released alive,” he said. “And we’ve been really successful astatine that — not removing them from nan h2o and getting them backmost in. They’re existent viable.”

Every clip a food is tossed successful nan tote, Begich presses connected a clicker. When nan net’s empty, he records information points astir nan drawback successful a notebook.

Beyond preserving king salmon, nan Gabriels opportunity food caught pinch seine nets are fresher. In gillnets, food whitethorn beryllium dormant successful nan h2o until hauled in. But food caught successful seine nets are live moreover aft they’ve been transferred to a tote.

Brian said their squad sewage disconnected to a slow start. But by past week, they’d recovered their groove.

“We learned a batch quickly,” he said. “And I deliberation we’re down now wherever we benignant of, you know, we’re hitting, I deliberation we’re hitting connected each cylinders. We’ve gotten a batch of resources to do that. Everybody’s benignant of jumping in, knows what they do — everything becomes a rhythm.”

Like a batch of experiments, nan Gabriels’ task progressive immoderate proceedings and error. They started pinch a ample seine nett — 600 feet agelong and 60 feet heavy — but it was excessively big.

So, they sewage a customized smaller 1 — 400 feet agelong and 30 feet deep. They’ve been moving pinch Bulletproof Nets retired of Homer. Employee Syd Paulino says nan institution doesn’t get commissioned for typical projects often.

“I deliberation a large portion of what’s truthful breathtaking astir it is knowing that nan extremity of it is to prevention this fishery and doing things that we cognize are going to person specified a affirmative effect connected nan communities, our section communities” Paulino said. “I deliberation that’s what really is breathtaking for us.”

The formation cognition is simply a family affair. Eleven-year-old Harper Madrid is Brian and Lisa’s granddaughter. Clad successful orangish Grundéns and a turquoise rainfall jacket, she alternated betwixt flinging flounder into nan inlet and transferring sockeye into buckets. Madrid’s been sportfishing for years and says her occupation is to put nan food successful totes and smack nan moving statement to spot if it would thief support food successful nan net.

“So, they’re putting nan nett retired location and they’re benignant of utilizing nan moving statement to propulsion it successful and trying to make, like, a horseshoe benignant of,” she said. “And nan fish, benignant of, all, like, aquatics towards them, towards nan extremity of nan net. And we telephone that nan money bag. That’s usually wherever astir of nan food are.”

But nan Gabriels aren’t nan only family connected nan project. They’re sportfishing a tract that belongs to Amber and Travis Every, a mates of third-generation setnetters. Amber says they dream to walk their cognition onto their ain kids.

“I deliberation arsenic agelong arsenic ample kings are successful debased abundance, we person to proceed to look for replacement ways to harvest nan surplus of sockeye and so, yeah, arsenic agelong arsenic we’re live-releasing kings there, everything that’s coming to nan formation is well, live and healthy,” she said.

At nan extremity of nan day, though, it’s still an experimental fishery. Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang approved nan Gabriels’ permit.

“It whitethorn beryllium different twelvemonth of experiments going guardant based connected what we saw for nan first year, aliases it could beryllium that we conscionable effort it retired adjacent year,” he said. “I deliberation it’s premature astatine this constituent successful clip to fig retired what we’re gonna do pinch it since we haven’t moreover seen a last study yet.”

Vincent-Lang has been retired to nan trial tract and says he’s “cautiously optimistic” astir nan results truthful far. He says nan section is willing successful uncovering a measurement for setnetters to food again, but successful a measurement that protects kings.

The Gabriels are besides hopeful.

“It’s neat to spot that we’re capable to, you know, seine retired nan sockeye, our target species, and past fto everything other go,” Brian said. “And we’re doing it successful numbers that benignant of make it economically viable for folks.”

The mates plans to return their experimental setup connected nan roadworthy by nan extremity of nan play to trial really it useful connected different formation sites, arsenic required by their permit. On Friday, they said they’d taken nan cognition to Salamatof, pinch akin occurrence successful method, truthful far.