Contact: Karla Bush, Extended Jurisdiction Program Manager, (907) 465-6153

ADF&G Announces Open Comment Period and Listening Sessions for Federal Fishery Disaster Spend Plans

(Juneau, AK) – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Department) is developing spend plans for three recently funded fishery disasters. The State supports an open and transparent process for distributing disaster relief and will work with affected stakeholders and NOAA Fisheries to identify funding priorities and develop spend plans for each fishery disaster. The Department will host a virtual listening session on July 10 from 1pm to 3pm AKDT, to receive input on funding priorities and eligibility criteria from affected fishery participants. Written comments can be emailed to: dfg.com.fisheriesdisasters@alaska.gov

The Department is requesting public comments for the following fishery disaster spend plans:

• 2022 Chignik salmon fishery
• 2023 Upper Cook Inlet East Side set gillnet (ESSN) salmon fishery
• 2023/24 Bering Sea snow (BSS) crab fishery

Additional opportunities to comment on the draft plans for the 2022 Chignik and 2023 UCI ESSN disasters will be provided before the final plans are submitted to NOAA Fisheries for approval. The third draft spend plan for the 2023/24 Bering Sea snow crab fishery disaster with the full funding amount will be the last opportunity to provide comments.

Fishery Disaster Spend Plans Virtual Listening Session

The Department will hold a public listening session on Friday, July 10. If you are unable to attend a listening session, please email comments to: dfg.com.fisheriesdisasters@alaska.gov. Emailed comments must be received by Monday, July 13 to be considered in the next draft of the spend plan.

Participants will have up to 5 minutes to provide comments. The listening sessions will be organized by regions and fisheries as outlined in the schedule below. If you are unable to attend the designated time for your fishery, please submit written comments. We will attempt to provide all listening session participants with an opportunity to comment and appreciate your patience.

July 10^th 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Alaska Daylight Time

• 1:00 pm: ADF&G Introduction and Chignik salmon
• 2:00 pm: Upper Cook Inlet ESSN
• 2:30 pm: Bering Sea snow crab

Join on July 10^th by Microsoft Teams meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/262468459739074?p=2KsIeyiqk8hjJweo8z

Meeting ID: 262 468 459 739 074

Passcode: jv7q3ki6

Or dial in by phone

+1 907-202-7104,,703305726#

Phone conference ID: 703 305 726#

Guidance for submitting comments:

Disaster funds are intended to offset the harm incurred from a fishery failure. Disaster funds may be used to assess the economic and social effects of the fishery failure and for activities that restore the fishery or prevent a similar failure. Disaster funds can be used to assist fishing communities affected by the fishery failure by helping commercial fishermen, processors, subsistence users, and infrastructure. See the NOAA Fisheries web site for additional information on fishery disaster assistance: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/funding-and-financial-services/fishery-disaster-assistance.

Previous Alaska fishery disaster spend plans have provided funds for two general categories: research and direct payments to affected fishery participants such as harvesters, processors, communities, and households. To assist in development of the spend plans for the recently funded fishery disasters, the State is requesting comments on:

• categories of affected fishery participants to receive direct payments,
• eligibility criteria for direct payments,
• how to allocate funds among the categories of fishery participants, and
• recommendations for research or other project priorities such as habitat restoration, public infrastructure projects, capacity reduction, or stock enhancement.