A proposal that would have allowed commercial setnet fishers on the east side of Cook Inlet to fish with set beach seines was transformed into a motion to strip setnets entirely from the Kenai River king salmon action plan before being defeated on a 3-3 vote by the State Board of Fisheries on Saturday.

When the State Board of Fisheries in 2024 established its action plan for the recovery of Kenai River late-run king salmon, a “stock of management concern,” it called on the east side setnet fishery — which has been barred entirely from operating since 2023 — to exercise “creativity” and find a new way to fish for the abundant sockeye salmon they target without killing king salmon.

That’s why Brian and Lisa Gabriel last summer operated a test fishery for set beach seines. They told the Clarion in July that they’d seen their nets work successfully — that they hadn’t killed a king salmon, that they could adapt the nets to different sites, and that they’d caught enough sockeye to be economically viable.

They brought the idea to the board last week, via an accepted request to hear the proposal out of cycle. Local fishing issues aren’t set to return before the board until 2027. They told the board on Tuesday, March 11, that they tested the nets on multiple sites, solicited input from other setnetters and hired a professional monitor in retired biologist Robert Begich.

A total of more than 20,000 sockeye were harvested across two permits and four fish sites, according to data included in meeting notes. While harvesting that target stock, the report says that they successfully released 31 silver salmon and 16 king salmon — only one king salmon seen and released during the test was a large king greater than 34 inches of length that would be counted by the State Department of Fish and Game.

Using the set beach seines, Brian Gabriel said to the board, they successfully harvested sockeye salmon while releasing king salmon alive.

The Gabriels in recent months also brought their presentation to a variety of local fish and game advisory committees, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association and others to collect feedback.

KRSA in a written statement by Executive Director Shannon Martin said they opposed the Gabriels’ proposal because the study “was not nearly comprehensive enough to allow for scaling up to potentially over 50 participants spread across the ESSN fishery.”

The Gabriels brought forward a proposed amendment to their proposal at the meeting, based on feedback received from the groups they engaged with. The amendment would have shortened the days available for fishing — including removing days in August to avoid interactions with silver salmon — reduced the allowable length and depth of the seines, required release of all silvers in addition to kings and required gear to be tended at all times, among other considerations.

But it wasn’t that amendment that saw support from the board. Another amendment, RC 72, was submitted by three members of the board, Chair Märit Carlson-Van Dort, Gerad Godfrey and Curtis Chamberlain. That proposal would replace setnets in the action plan with the new seines, while retaining the policy that has barred setnetters from fishing in recent years.

Multiple fishers, including Joseph Persons, Dan Norman, Alan Crookston, Gary Hollier and Travis Every, railed against that substitute language. The broad support that the original proposal received, Every said, was based on seines as an alternative gear — “there was never support or an intention to replace setnets.”

Under the action plan, setnets aren’t allowed for use unless the department projects an escapement of more than 14,250 large king salmon in the Kenai River’s late run. Last year only 6,600 were counted and only around 8,700 are projected for this year.

“The whole point of the seine exercise, since we weren’t seeing king mortality, was to allow harvest on sockeye below that 14,250 threshold,” Brian Gabriel said in a Monday interview. “Quite honestly, it wasn’t on my bingo card that the board would grab our proposal and create RC 72, which essentially would allow the set beach seines over 14,250 — it would basically replace the gillnets but not allow any other opportunity.”

It wasn’t until Saturday morning, immediately before the board met to consider the Gabriels’ proposal, that the board notified Brian, Lisa and other attending fishers of their substitute language.

“Our whole group was like ‘we can’t advocate for anything like that,” Gabriel said. “There’s 600 other permit holders that aren’t in the room and don’t get a chance to speak.”

The amended language was brought forward without objection. Area Management Biologist Colton Lipka confirmed that, if enacted, the proposal would strip setnets from the action plan entirely, meaning setnets could not be used until Kenai River kings were declassified a stock of management concern.

There were gasps in the audience, Gabriel said, when board member Greg Svendsen said in defense of the move “I do not want to see setnets in the inlet again — if I had my way, there’d be no setnets in the inlet period, drifters or setnets.”

Board member Tom Carpenter said that any proposal brought to the board can be transformed, even significantly, before approval. But, he said, he struggled with “such a fundamental change.”

“There’s 700 permit holders in this setnet fishery, and there’s probably 15 of them in the audience right now,” he said. Such a significant potential change should come when “the public that has everything to lose” can come and participate in the discussion.

Setnets, Godfrey said, are “on the brink of obsolescence.” He said the work done by the Gabriels and others proved that the seines are a viable gear type for their area. He said he brought forward the language to put the fishers “on notice,” but ultimately decided not to support the move.

“This is about as egregious of an impact as you could have on a user group without them having ample time to consult you or express their concerns,” he said.

Member Stan Zuray noted that multiple advisory committees and 150 individual comments were in support of the original proposal. He said that support wasn’t voiced for the board’s RC 72.

Chair Carlson-Van Dort said she was “unconvinced” that the amendment’s change to the Gabriels’ proposal was “as impactful” as fishers had described.

Members Carlson-Van Dort, Svendsen and Chamberlain voted in favor of the amended proposal. Members Zuray, Carpenter and Godfrey voted in opposition. A tied vote means the motion failed.

After the amendment, that’s the resolution Gabriel said he was relieved to see. Once their proposal became RC 72, he said, “I wanted to just kill the whole thing.”

Despite what happened at the board meeting, the Gabriels said they plan to continue working to develop more data and seeking a path forward for their fishery. If more data is the ask, that’s what they’ll provide.

“They cited that they didn’t have enough data to allow us to fish these, even though we didn’t kill any kings,” Gabriel said. “But they were OK with that level of data to replace the whole gear type.”

If times of abundance return, and king salmon run strong in the Kenai River again, setnets should return to the inlet, Gabriel said. Until then, he and Lisa will continue to proceed “in good faith” and seek a way for their fishery to operate at times of low abundance. While setnetters have sat out the last two years, other fisheries have been operating and even seen liberalized regulation in the face of massive sockeye salmon runs.

“I’m just trying to figure out a way to be viable.”

A full recording of the board meeting, including public comment and deliberation on the proposal, can be found at adfg.alaska.gov, under “Regulations,” then “Boards.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the number of king salmon that were successfully released during a test fishery for set beach seines.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.