I had an interesting conversation today, one which, due to the small size of Alaskan communities, I'm going to have to be vague about, but here goes:
I found out a Copper River commercial fisherman had brought in almost 1,000lbs of beautiful but not so plentiful Copper River kings that he had caught in his commercial nets to be processed for himself. My first thought, as someone who doesn't get to keep even 1 lb of Copper River king that I might catch in either the sport or personal use fishery, was outrage.
Is this legal? Can the commercial fisherman pick and choose what they keep themselves and what to sell? That seems counter-intuitive to the whole division between commercial and personal use, but it seems they can do whatever the heck they want. It's also a bit sickening when there is such a lack of in-river fish that the king fishery is totally shut down.
Someone in the know please clarify before I march down to F&G and say something that might be way off-base.
Thanks!
(BTW, I have nothing against the commercial fisherman making a living....but I do have something against them stocking their freezers and smokers under the guise of commercial fishing. Keep it fair...if you want it for the freezer, take the time off work like the rest of us and get it the same way we do.)
I found out a Copper River commercial fisherman had brought in almost 1,000lbs of beautiful but not so plentiful Copper River kings that he had caught in his commercial nets to be processed for himself. My first thought, as someone who doesn't get to keep even 1 lb of Copper River king that I might catch in either the sport or personal use fishery, was outrage.
Is this legal? Can the commercial fisherman pick and choose what they keep themselves and what to sell? That seems counter-intuitive to the whole division between commercial and personal use, but it seems they can do whatever the heck they want. It's also a bit sickening when there is such a lack of in-river fish that the king fishery is totally shut down.
Someone in the know please clarify before I march down to F&G and say something that might be way off-base.
Thanks!
(BTW, I have nothing against the commercial fisherman making a living....but I do have something against them stocking their freezers and smokers under the guise of commercial fishing. Keep it fair...if you want it for the freezer, take the time off work like the rest of us and get it the same way we do.)
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