We know that dipnetting is just one part of the Cook Inlet fishing landscape. In this conversation, we’re talking about personal-use fishing and setnetting from the Department of Fish and Game’s perspective, but we’ll be diving deeper into commercial fishing closures in coming coverage.
Dipnetting opened on the Kenai River last week, and on the Kasilof in late June. This week, on the Kenai Conversation, we sat down with Matt Miller from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Sportfish. He’s the Regional Fisheries Management Coordinator for Cook Inlet, and oversees sport and personal use fisheries along the inlet.
Fishing has been off to a slow start at the Kenai, but is projected to pick up over the season. We talked to Miller about how this year compares to others in terms of permit numbers and fish counts, the unique Kasilof fishery, the history of personal-use fisheries in Cook Inlet and the ways that king salmon conservation affects commercial, sport and personal-use fisheries.
