Fish board hearing slated

Fish board hearing slated
Testimony to be taken in Soldotna on Jan. 30
With 286 proposals on the docket for the Board of Fisheries (BOF) Upper Cook Inlet meeting, user group representatives expect hundreds from all facets of fishing to descend upon Anchorage beginning Feb. 1. "A good couple-hundred people or better will testify," said Jim Marcotte, executive director for the Board of Fisheries. "By the end of public testimony (the BOF) will have heard all sides of most issues." Board members will take testimony from representatives of the area's advisory committees and members of the public at its Anchorage meeting from Feb. 1 to Feb. 12 before beginning their deliberations. But for those who can't devote their time to a 12 day-long meeting or who can't make it to Anchorage the BOF will send three of its members to afford the public an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns at a public testimony at 3 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Soldotna Sports Center.
Some 227 of the 286 proposals concern guided fishing, sport fishing, subsistence fishing and commercial fishing here on the Kenai Peninsula, particularly the Kenai and Kasilof rivers.