Bob Penney moves closer to big return on Dunleavy investment

The Dunleavy administration has proposed shutting down commercial salmon fishing in federal waters of Cook Inlet, which would be a dream come true for Bob Penney, who invested $350,000 in Dunleavy’s 2018 campaign for governor.

Alaskans and a variety of government and industry organizations submitted 224 public comments to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which is due to take this up at a meeting that begins Friday and continues next week.

The testimony was almost unanimous, with 223 people and groups opposing the Dunleavy plan, which would apply to the so-called “exclusive economic zone” or EEZ, federal waters more than three miles off the coast.

There was one comment in support of the proposal.

That came from Penney’s group, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, in a letter that did not mention that the Dunleavy plan would shut down commercial fishing. Penney’s group exists to promote sports fishing, especially king fishing on the Kenai River, and his views have found an eager champion in Dunleavy.

Penney’s group said it wants a sustainable plan and claimed the federal government is unable to respond to in-season return and harvest data, so it wants a fishing ban in those waters.

The state says that the closure could mean “Potential growth of sport fishing sector and guide/charter businesses if in-river salmon abundance increases and potential benefits to associated support businesses may also occur.”

The support for the Dunleavy commercial fishing ban in federal waters “is presented without animus for other user groups in Cook Inlet,” wrote Ben Mohr, who serves as executive director of Penney’s group.

The 223 other public comments did not mention “animus,” a word not often heard on fishing boats, but the commenters expressed plenty of hostility for the Dunleavy proposal to put commercial fishermen out of business. Many said it was unethical for the state to announce the plan at an October meeting after a public hearing had ended.

The closure plan would hit Homer hard, with perhaps 100 fishing vessels being forced out during the season. There was also opposition from local governments on the Kenai Peninsula, the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District and a wide range of fishermen and fishing group.

Four alternatives are in the plan. Nearly all commenters supported the second option, which calls for a collaborative management approach in the federal waters as a response to a lawsuit. The fourth alternative, the shutdown plan proposed by the Dunleavy administration in October, has not received the vetting that it deserved, critics said.

“Seems a little disingenuous to add Alternate 4 so late in the process with little or no discussion amongst user groups, especially considering its draconian effects to many of those user groups. State control with federal oversight seems simple and fair,” said Charles Ruppenthal.

“Supporting Alternative 4 would effectively eliminate the entire upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishery. The upper Cook Inlet drift fleet is already burdened to the point of bankruptcy by politically motivated area closures of this type during the fishing season,” said Lara Fleenor, member of a fourth-generation fishing family.

Sen. Peter Micciche wrote that he had not heard from a single individual supporting the closure and that it would destroy commercial fishing. He said the last-minute proposal “has not been supported by any analysis and has not been vetted” by the council.

“Alternative 4 will likely put an end to commercial salmon fishing in Cook Inlet and therefore, an Alaskan way of life,” he wrote.

He also said the theory that this would lead to better sports fishing is flawed and predicted more conflicts in the future that “will result in over-escapement and eventually smaller returns, directly and negatively impacting the quality and quantities of salmon available for the other sport, personal use and subsistence user groups.”

“Alternative 4 reflects a hyperpoliticized, anti-commercial fishing perspective from the Dunleavy Administration, and it should be rejected outright,” wrote Bob Shavelson of Cook Inletkeeper.

“This last minute proposal put forward by state of Alaska is nothing more then another political ploy to advance the capricious agenda of a well connected individual that has made his life-long ambition to eliminate the commercial fishery in upper Cook Inlet,” wrote Kenai permit holder Tino Perone.

“As a current Cook Inlet permit holder Option 4 would decimate the fishery I have invested heavily in over the past several years, turning what are currently assets into paper weights and fire starters,” said Coette Choate of Homer.

“If the Council chooses Alternative 4, it creates a profound inequity between commercial and recreational fishermen sharing this resource. It eliminates access for one, and maintains access for another, the allocative consequences and implications of which have not been analyzed,” said Hannah Heimbuch of Homer.

“Let's not pretend that the guided sport fishing industry in Cook Inlet isn’t commercial fishing. It is, under a different name. Certain factions of the guided sport fishing industry have been completely committed to the elimination of commercial fishing with nets in Cook Inlet for well over 30 years. The sport guided commercial fishing grounds are slightly different, mainly via the relative safety of the Kenai river, with some owners having high priced riverfront properties complemented by gardeners, cooks, multiple guides, entertainers and housekeeping staff etc.,” said drift fisherman Andrew Hanrahan.

“The natural flow of sockeye into the Kenai River, the main sockeye producing system in Cook inlet, runs through federal waters and is virtually not harvestable in state waters by the drift fleet. Those within the state who propose the shutdown of federal waters are aware of this, and their goal is to reallocate this resource through any means possible to in-river users,” said Taylor Evenson.

Here is an overview and background on the matter from Seafood News.com.

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