Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner McKie Campbell said Kodiak fishermen are no more feisty or outspoken than fishermen anywhere, and Campbell likes it that way.

Earlier this month he sat through a public hearing for a day and a half on Gulf of Alaska groundfish rationalization. Anyone who signed up could testify to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

As the Fish and Game commissioner, Campbell has an automatic seat on the council. At the end of the hearing, he addressed the public with his personal thoughts, something he is not allowed to do during public testimony.

The council doesn’t hold dozens of hearings on Gulf rationalization for fun, he said, but because both fishermen and Congress asked them to pursue the issue.

“Congress has instructed this council to be doing what we’re doing. I understand there are a lot of you who wish that we weren’t doing it, but frankly, that’s not an option,” Campbell said.

The public hearing began June 6, and continued into the next day to accommodate the large number of people who wanted to address the council.

“We’ve heard a lot of very heart-felt testimony and I fully credit the sincerity of everybody who has testified,” Campbell said. “It is my strong hope that you will credit us with sincerity also of trying to find some solutions.”

He spoke of the frustration he and the other council members experience while hearing testimony. They can’t engage in a full conversation with the witness. They are only allowed to ask questions for clarification. He said it is also frustrating for the council members when people attack the council for motivations they don’t have and actions they haven’t taken.

Rationalization is required by law to go through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

Under NEPA, the council must look at a wide range of alternatives and consider the potential environmental impacts of proposed actions and possible alternatives to a proposed action that may have a significant effect on the human environment.

“We do not have the option of saying we know already that (a certain) set of options are politically popular, so we’re only going to look at that set of options,” Campbell said. “We are required by law under NEPA to look at the wide set of options.”

Throughout the public hearing, Campbell and other council members asked those who testified to not only outline the problems but to also offer solutions.

He expressed gratitude for all who had specific ideas on how to fix the problems.

“We need all the help we can get trying to figure this out,” he said.

During the public testimony, longtime Kodiak resident Andy Lundquist, owner of Tony’s Bar, laid out a vision for Kodiak. Campbell said he has a similar vision and believes most people would agree with it.

“I have a vision of a thriving economy around here with lots of canneries operating, lots of infrastructure happening, a medium-sized boat fleet that is healthy and can afford upkeep, and vigorous price competition going on here,” Lundquist said. He added he does not believe rationalization will bring Kodiak to this end.

Campbell said the difficult question is how to get there.

“I can’t quite figure out how to get there either,” he said. “If people have specific suggestions on that, I welcome them, I want them, I need them.

“It’s fair to say, ‘Don’t do rationalization,’ but then tell us how else to fix it. What should we do? I appeal to you all for that help.”

He said there are probably things he would have done differently in crab rationalization and IFQs.

“I wasn’t around for crab ratz. I was around for the very early days of halibut IFQs. I was a pretty fierce opponent of halibut IFQs at the time. I would say now that some of the things I was worried about turned out not to be a problem.

“Some of the things we could clearly see coming. I argued real hard for crew and skipper share inclusion. That did turn out to be the problem I suspected.

“There were other things that we didn’t suspect at all — unintended consequences. Are there things we could fix? Sure, and I think we need to continue to look at all the programs,” Campbell said.

But he doubts fine-tuning the existing programs will fix all the problems people brought up at the hearing.

He encouraged people to remain constructively involved with the rationalization process.

Gulf of Alaska rationalization will not be on the council’s agenda again until December. The council will continue to take public comment and written comment.

Mirror writer Deanna Cooper may be reached via e-mail at dcooper@kodiakdailymirror.com.