setnet

Soldotna Rep. Justin Ruffridge has released an accompanying bill to one introduced in the Senate by Jesse Bjorkman. The bill would allow Cook Inlet set-netters to sell their permits back to the state.

Commercial fishermen in Cook Inlet will have to decide, given uncertainty related to management, whether gearing up for the season is worth the costs.

Set-netter Ken Coleman said he's never seen his fishery close, completely, this early.

The bill is a new version of legislation Peter Micciche sponsored when he was in the Alaska Senate. Advocates say it would make the struggling set-net fishery more sustainable for its permit holders.

We spoke with fisheries economist Gunnar Knapp and set-netter Brent Johnson about trends in Upper Cook Inlet's commercial salmon fishery — from changes in catches and permit prices, to how those numbers track with those coming from Bristol Bay, to how fishermen are reacting to the changing landscape in the inlet.

The opinion from the Alaska Supreme Court, published Friday, is the latest legal blow to the 440 or so east-side permit holders, who have seen their fishery close early for the last four summers due to paired restrictions.

In a case filed in state court this week, the Cook Inlet Fishermen's Fund asked the state to immediately reopen the fishery, to pay fishermen back for what they lost and to revise the plan that closed it in the first place.

Fishing for kings on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers is again off limits this month. That also means set-netters who fish the east side of Cook Inlet are not allowed to fish any more this season.

The department said the policy will give the set-netters the 24 hours they’re allowed to fish during the week while also moving fish into the rivers for dip-netting on the weekends.

Set-netters said the proposal was a chance at relief for their fishery in 2022.