May 4, 2021 — The budget for Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Division won’t be cut for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming the current numbers make it through the Legislature.
“The governor’s proposed budget is at about $72.8 million, which is a slight increase from the FY21 approved budget. And most of that increase is due to our personnel services, cost of living increases and things like that that are funded by the administration generally. And also from some additional federal funds for training and things like that. So we’re looking pretty good compared to past years,” said Sam Rabung, director of the Commercial Fisheries Division, the largest within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which employs just over 640 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers.
“We’re really relieved because we’ve been cut pretty close to the bone and any additional significant cuts would impact fisheries directly. We wouldn’t be able to do some of the assessment projects required for management and we would have to either close or severely restrict fisheries. And I think everybody understands that,” he said, adding that another bonus will be the reopening of the ADF&G office at Wrangell.
Rabung credited the Dunleavy administration for taking the time to dig into the details that clearly show Alaska’s fisheries “pay their own way.”