ADFG Board Of Fisheries Will Discuss Prince William Sound Fishing Issues

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Board of Fisheries:

The Alaska Board of Fisheries (board) will meet November 30-December 6, 2021, at the Cordova Center, 601 1^st Street, Cordova Alaska. During this seven-day public meeting, the board will meet to consider 79 proposals regarding Prince William Sound and Upper Copper and Susitna River finfish and shellfish issues submitted by the general public, fishing organizations, local fish and game advisory committees, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (department). The board also scheduled three agenda change requests adopted at its October work session.

In an effort to fully conduct this meeting the department is enacting a number of temporary COVID-10 mitigation measures including requiring registration. Registration is taken mainly to ask for contact information which is used to communicate meeting updates to attendees and, in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak at the meeting, made available to contact tracers. The registration also allows attendees to indicate their intention to provide oral public testimony, selecting from multiple time slots on a first-come, first-serve basis. To register, go to the meeting website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo&date=11-30-2021&meeting=cordovaand. Other mitigation measures will be enacted and provided in a meeting specific plan currently under development.

The board encourages the public to submit written comments on specific proposals. See http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=process.comments for details on public comment. Public comments submitted by November 15 will be included in the board’s workbook before the meeting. After November 15, written public comments are limited to 10 single-sided or 5 double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group. These comments are recorded as record copies and inserted in board member workbooks at the beginning of the meeting, and accepted throughout the board meeting.

In addition to submitting written public comments, the board invites the public to give oral public testimony during the meeting beginning November 30. Any person intending to testify must register for the meeting either on the meeting website or at the Cordova Center in Cordova. The tentative deadline for registering for public testimony is 2:00pm on Tuesday, November 30. Public testimony will continue until members of the public who signed up before the deadline and are present have been given an opportunity to testify.

All portions of the meeting are open to the public and a live video and audio stream is intended to be available on the Board of Fisheries website at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. Documents submitted to the board are intended to be posted online throughout the meeting. Copies of advanced meeting materials, including the agenda and roadmap, are available from Boards Support Section, 907-465-4110, or online at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo.

During the meeting, written public comments from any one individual or group may be submitted through email at dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov. Once proposal deliberations begin, the board will ONLY accept written public comments not more than five single-sided pages, or the equivalent double-sided pages. The board may relax this requirement if specific information is requested by the board requiring more pages than allowed under this standard.

Individuals may also submit written comments by fax to (907) 465-6094.