Dipnetting 101: a few bad apples may spoil the fun

• Proposal would institute mandatory dipnet education

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

The results of the personal-use dipnet fishery on the Kenai Peninsula are a stark contrast in opposites. Tens of thousands of Alaskans fill their freezers with low-cost, healthy salmon meat. At the same time, beaches are trashed; private property is trespassed on, used as a latrine and even set on fire; fragile, ecologically sensitive sand dunes and beach grass are trampled and destroyed; management resources are stretched thin; and area residents’ patience is frayed to the limit.
In order to preserve the benefits of the former, a dipnetter from Eagle River is calling on fellow personal-use fishery users to prevent the latter.
“I believe that we do need to take steps to police ourselves before others either police us or eliminate us,” said Steve Rasmussen, of Eagle River, who has been fishing in the Kenai and Kasilof river dipnet fisheries for several years. “I think that, as a group, we’ve become that big of a problem. While the great majority of dipnetters are very law-abiding and very respectful, there’s a few, I guess you’d say bad apples, that I think are endangering it for all of us.”
Rasmussen plans to submit a proposal to the Board of Fisheries that would require most dipnetters take a test before being allowed to fish. He proposes the test be presented as an educational tool and not be difficult to pass. Questions would be meant to inform dipnetters about the social responsibility aspects of the fishery — like protecting sand dunes and beach grass, carrying out trash and staying off private property — rather than regulations.
Rasmussen has taught hunter education classes for nearly 10 years, including being a volunteer instructor for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He equates his idea for dipnetter education to the hunter education program.
“The rules are pretty common sense, they’re pretty straightforward. There’s a couple of detailed ones that you actually do have to learn, like recording your catch and clip the fins before they go in the cooler, but other than that I think it’s all common sense so far as dipnetting, and yet it’s not happening,” Rasmussen said.
He said dipnetter education could help because it would make anyone not aware of the rules know what they should and shouldn’t do, it would reinforce the importance of following the rules for those who already know them, and it would make it more acceptable for fellow dipnetters to encourage others to do the right thing.
Rasmussen said he envisions the program being conducted as an online test, with no classroom time or live instructors required. Fish and Game could get the same company that created the online portion of its hunter education courses to create a dipnet education test. Dipnetters would pay to take the test, perhaps $15 to $30, just like hunters support the cost of the hunter education program by paying for the classes.
Since proposing the idea, he’s gotten some negative response to it, especially over the idea of requiring experienced dipnetters to take the test in order to continue an activity they’ve been doing for years.

Kasilof conundrum
More people dipnet at the mouth of the Kenai, but even less services, enforcement presence, resources and oversight are available for the ones who do fish the Kasilof personal-use setnet and dipnet openings.
Adam Smith, Southcentral regional natural resource manager for the state Division of Mining, Land and Water, which has jurisdiction over the mouth of the Kasilof River, said dipnetter education may not hurt, but it probably wouldn’t make a meaningful improvement in the situation at the Kasilof.
“My initial reaction is that I think it’s a good intention, but it doesn’t get rid of the management responsibility or management crisis down there,” Smith said. “It’s a basic lack of facilities and lack of oversight.”
The Southcentral region of Mining, Land and Water covers 64 million acres, and has just 34 people to manage it, Smith said. The division’s budget does not include specific funding to manage the dipnet fishery, so they end up scraping together whatever money they can to pool with the Kenai Peninsula Borough to provide the limited services that are available — Dumpsters and a few Porta Potties at the north and south beaches of the Kasilof.
It’s gotten so bad that the State granted the Kasilof Historical Society permission to move the historic cannery Watchman’s Cabin to save it from being further trashed. Area residents expressed hope that the now-vacant plot of land would be developed into a managed campground, but that’s not currently the plan, Smith said.
The Kasilof situation may be even worse next summer.
“We can’t guarantee at this point to continue to fund the Porta Potties and Dumpsters,” Smith said. “The problem is, I don’t make the budgetary decisions and have a fixed amount of money. At this point, we’re looking fairly strapped coming into the upcoming year.”

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Posted by Newsroom on Nov 4th, 2009 and filed under More News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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