Ok, so to start - I will be the first to say that I think the PU fishery on the Peninsula needs a few changes - that said I support the fishery - I have tons of friends and family who benefit from it. In fact I have friends and family who depend on all of the Peninsula's fisheries. I depend on and participate in several of them myself, and believe that with proper management they can all continue to thrive and coexist as they have for decades.
I have seen sensible discussions of reasonable change in our fisheries squashed and/or perverted by the powerful Sportfishing organizations for one reason - they want to kill the Cook Inlet commercial fishery and continue to profit from our rivers at all costs. Imagine my surprise to learn that the President of SCADA (the Southcentral Dipnetter's Association) is also on the board of Bob Penney's new organization (AFCA), which seeks the abolition of setnets (and likely after that, all forms of commercial fishing in Cook Inlet). Oh, yeah, and the vice president of SCADA is also the vice president of AFCA (and the father of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association's Executive Director). So safe to say, the leadership of SCADA is actively seeking to eliminate other user groups and directly linked to KRSA and AFCA.
On top of that, I noticed comments from the SCADA president below the linked article (which is mostly a tit-for-tat, typical "fish wars" exchange) in which he expresses his hate for non-resident fishermen of all types.
http://www.adn.com/article/20140926/...ref_map=%5B%5D
Do dipnetters support these guys? Do they support SCADA, or is this just another shell organization for this Sportfishing Syndicate? Is this really what our fishery has become? Maybe I'm being sensitive or petty, but to me this stinks. Comon Alaskans, either change this board, pull your membership, or form an organization with some educated, reasonable individuals to represent you.
I have seen sensible discussions of reasonable change in our fisheries squashed and/or perverted by the powerful Sportfishing organizations for one reason - they want to kill the Cook Inlet commercial fishery and continue to profit from our rivers at all costs. Imagine my surprise to learn that the President of SCADA (the Southcentral Dipnetter's Association) is also on the board of Bob Penney's new organization (AFCA), which seeks the abolition of setnets (and likely after that, all forms of commercial fishing in Cook Inlet). Oh, yeah, and the vice president of SCADA is also the vice president of AFCA (and the father of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association's Executive Director). So safe to say, the leadership of SCADA is actively seeking to eliminate other user groups and directly linked to KRSA and AFCA.
On top of that, I noticed comments from the SCADA president below the linked article (which is mostly a tit-for-tat, typical "fish wars" exchange) in which he expresses his hate for non-resident fishermen of all types.
http://www.adn.com/article/20140926/...ref_map=%5B%5D
Do dipnetters support these guys? Do they support SCADA, or is this just another shell organization for this Sportfishing Syndicate? Is this really what our fishery has become? Maybe I'm being sensitive or petty, but to me this stinks. Comon Alaskans, either change this board, pull your membership, or form an organization with some educated, reasonable individuals to represent you.
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