February 24, 2017 — Commercial fisheries in Southeast Alaska have survived two years of state budget cuts but not without some changes.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Commercial Fisheries has cut some positions, ended some monitoring programs, and found some new funding sources.
When the state cuts are listed on a spread sheet, the individual amounts don’t seem that staggering – $20,000 here, $50,000 there.
But it totals about $1.75 million over the past two years.
The cuts include laying off a part-time front desk person in Petersburg, not replacing a retired analyst programmer and eliminating a position in the golden king crab fishery.
Lowell Fair, regional supervisor for Commercial Fisheries in Southeast, said none of the cuts were good but they were necessary.
He said the golden king crab job was an observer who would collect data on the crab in season.