By Scott Kemp February 03, 2011
As a fishing lodge owner in Ketchikan, I know how much we rely on these stocks of herring and how disheartening it is to watch the Sitka folks grab gigantic swaths of this food-chain base taken for the benifit of a few people, to the detriment of thousands. I cringe at that happening in our backyard. We have all seen the whales here in Ketchikan more often. We don't need yet one more stress on these incredibly important fish. We remember the herring from thirty years ago and jigging herring off the docks as kids. It's not like that anymore. Let's not completely kill them off. It's bad enough the halibut commission is going to drop the charter fleet to one measily 22lbs fish per person, but now we are messing with the salmon formula that is already under stress. We all remember the size of king salmon that won the derby 30 years ago. The derby winners today would have a hard time making the ladder 30 years ago. There are already bad things going on. Kechikan has many business that rely on charter fishing (mine included), and together we bring in millions of dollars and thousands of people into the economy here. Why mess with that for the benifit of a few? I took an hour today to write this and a letter to our law makers. Won't you join me and let your voice be heard? I compiled contact information for these people to make it easy for you to write...
Scott Kemp About: "Grew up in Ketchikan, now a part year resident, fishing lodge owner." Received February 03, 2011 - Published February 03, 2011
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