House Bill 125 - Board of Fish representation.

Published April 16, 2025

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Fellow dipnetters, House Bill 125 “Board of Fisheries Membership has moved out of committee and referred to resources . The purpose of the bill was to restore balance by ensuring equal representation of the different groups in Alaska . The bill as currently written does not include a seat for dipnetters on the board, so we will not have a voice if this bill passes.

Gary Riddle

CDA President Chuck Derrick wrote a letter to the Alaska House Resources Committee. If you think personal use dipnetters deserve equal representation or that Board of Fish members should represent all Alaskans regardless of how they put food on their families’ tables, send your own comments to the Alaska House Resources Committee. Text of Chuck’s teext follows:

THE CHITINA DIPNETTERS ASSN. “A non-profit advocating for the 7,000-10,000 Alaska residents who annually dipnet salmon from the Copper River to supplement their families’ food supply.”

4-16-2025

Alaska House Resources Committee Alaska State Capital Bldg. Juneau, AK. 99801

Dear House Resources Chair Niayuq Burke and Committee members:

The Chitina Dipnetters Association is in opposition to HB125 (BOF membership) as written. As written, this bill makes no reference to “personal use” designation and affords no representation on the BOF for the some 40,000 Alaska residents who annually partake in the Chitina and South Central Alaska salmon dipnet fisheries nor Alaska residents who participate in the various other state personal use fisheries. Although akin to subsistence, Personal Use classification was established to recognize fisheries where larger bag limits were set so residents could stock their freezers for the upcoming year. These fisheries usually do not meet all 8 criteria established by the BOF to identify subsistence uses, and thus the designation of “personal use”. Personal use participation is Alaska residents only. Sport and Commercial have both state resident and non-resident participants. Commercial sell their harvest, PU fishers by law cannot. Past sport representation on the BOF has usually been by sport fish guides or charter owners who have very little knowledge of personal use fisheries. We ask that HB125 be amended to give representation for “personal use” users.

Thank you,
Chuck Derrick,
President Chitina Dipnetters Assn.
cderrick@chitinadipnetters.com