During an opening series of yes or no questions, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins was the only candidate who said they have been commercial fishing before. Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka is the lone democrat in the field of four. He has visited communities up and down the Yukon River on the campaign trail this year.
He said the fishing industry, including all gear types and users such as subsistence fishermen should have an equal voice in the management process. They also must share the burden of conservation too.
“I think a strong principle I have is you know a conservation-based approach where the resource comes first, and that means pain in the short term. It means foregone harvest across sectors," Kreiss-Tomkins said. "And I think there are a lot of concerns from Alaskans when it doesn't feel like there is sort of a fair distribution of that conservation burden across user groups, and you know certainly if we're on the Yukon and Kuskokwim [Rivers], I don't think it feels fair to people on those systems who've you know had fish camps for 10,000 years.”
Bernadette Wilson, a Republican from Anchorage, highlighted her family connections to Bristol Bay, specifically the community of Naknek, and her grandmother’s fishing traditions. Wilson said salmon management should involve cooperation between state agencies and Alaska’s congressional delegation.
“This is one of the biggest issues facing Alaska. We provide 60% of the [domestic] seafood for the country, and Alaska doesn't even have their own symposium. That needs to change," she said. "We need to get everybody to the table. We need to have a commissioner. We need to have a fisheries advisor that will lead that conversation.”
Former Anchorage Mayor and Republican candidate Dave Bronson agreed that commercial fisheries are too complex for one person to handle on their own.
“The thing I would propose is that we need a deputy commissioner for fisheries and a deputy commissioner for game. It’s too complex," Bronson said. "I was a bit familiar coming into this race with some of the game issues. I got into fisheries here starting a year ago. It’s the most complex thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
He added that the deputy commissioner would give advice to the governor but could also execute fisheries policy under the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Bronson is the only candidate in the governor’s race who’s explicitly said he will ban trawling, both bottom and mid-water trawl fisheries, in state waters.
Fellow Republican candidate, Treg Taylor relied on his experience as the former Alaska attorney general during Wednesday’s fisheries debate. He cited an example of the federal government’s research into critical habitat for ice seals in Alaska, which he claimed is not in the state’s best interest.
“It's very dangerous to rely on the federal government for that research, because they don't have Alaska's fisheries’ best interest at heart," Taylor said. "Now, obviously, there's a lot of factors, and even the experts in this area disagree on what is going on with our fisheries.”
All four candidates supported getting more data on what’s happening to Chinook or king salmon populations in Alaska. But they did not agree on the cause of Chinook declines around the state.
The four gubernatorial hopefuls also said they all support the Alaska Marine Highway System, will fund the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, and plan to hire a fisheries advisor if they are elected as governor.
The general election is Nov. 3. Early voting and absentee in person voting begins on Oct. 19 according to the Alaska Division of Elections.
