State of Alaska supports Pebble... (Ketchikan, Metlakatla: rent, unemployment, high school)

[Dakster]

Way to throw it back in the face of Sen. Cantwell... Ok, no gold mine and no fishing...

Let's see how far that goes.

[stiffnecked]

I said return the fishing to the subsistence users. The people that actually live in the area. As it is now the vast majority of fishing goes to carpetbaggers from down south. The come in, steal the fish and then take the money back down south.

[Dakster]

I am not from AK and I agree with that... Although I live in a state that depends on tourism, So I may be biased in that regard.

[richelles]

The Senators press release sounds as if the Washingtonians must hold permits in both states which then begs the question how come "Nearly a thousand Washingtonians hold commercial fishing permits in Bristol Bay" and how many Alaskans hold similar permits in Alaska and also how many of those hold permits in Washington? It is easy to comprehend that given the cost of living in Alaska permit holders might wish to fish both places but actually live elsewhere other than Alaska. But we know the Palins hold a permit for Alaska so now has politics reared it's ugly head in this issue? If Alaskans can fish in both places then there might be no problem but if it is difficult to obtain a Washington permit as an out of state person is stiffs charge of stealing fish accurate?

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

I said return the fishing to the subsistence users. The people that actually live in the area. As it is now the vast majority of fishing goes to carpetbaggers from down south. The come in, steal the fish and then take the money back down south.

That's not a very nice way to talk about the charter guys.

Alaska and Washington have always been intertwined as far as the fishing industry goes, and a lot of local jobs are created by that industry. Lots of local seiners here, lots of Alaskan citizens working in Washington fishing grounds just now since seine season is finally over here.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

I said return the fishing to the subsistence users. The people that actually live in the area. As it is now the vast majority of fishing goes to carpetbaggers from down south. The come in, steal the fish and then take the money back down south.

Subsistence fishing is a great way to fill the freezer but it doesn't pay the bills. And I'm curious about why you say "return it to the subsistence users"...it was never taken away from them. Most of the people against Pebble in the Bristol Bay area are in fact subsistence users. And you'd be pretty surprised about the amount of subsistence fish that makes it way to Ballard, etc.

Both commercial and recreational fishing are a huge part of Alaska's economy. Most of the charter guys on POW are from out of state, but their guests stay in local lodging, eat at local restaurants....lots of local people are employed because of them. The great SE Alaska seine fleet is about half and half but no matter what waters their boats are registered in they bring a lot of money to this island....money that stays when they pull anchor for home, wherever that may be.

The Alaska fishing industry would not generate the income that it does without Washington State....and the other way around. It's a symbiotic relationship that's worked out rather well. It's simplistic and naive to believe that eliminating WA commercial boats from the mix would be any sort of answer at all. And guess what.

A lot of boats that are registered in WA waters are actually owned by Alaskan residents.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

It's simplistic and naive to believe that eliminating WA commercial boats from the mix would be any sort of answer at all. And guess what.

Yet chronic unemployment still runs rampant in the villages of southwest and western Alaska. If commercial fishing was the end-all-to-be-all then why aren't they offering more jobs to rural residents? We keep hearing this mantra branded about by the Anti-Pebble people yet they have not offered one proposal to increase year round jobs in rural Alaska.


Just something to think about.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/AKWADE0URN

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

Yet chronic unemployment still runs rampant in the villages of southwest and western Alaska. If commercial fishing was the end-all-to-be-all then why aren't they offering more jobs to rural residents? We keep hearing this mantra branded about by the Anti-Pebble people yet they have not offered one proposal to increase year round jobs in rural Alaska.


Just something to think about.

Unemployment Rate in Wade Hampton Census Area, AK (AKWADE0URN) - FRED - St. Louis Fed

No one said it was the "end all and be all".

Any rural resident in a fishing village who wants to work can find work. The jobs are definitely offered to them.

We go through it every year down on POW too. We hire locally simply to maintain good community relations....I myself put up with BS that wouldn't fly in other places simply because the person is local and we want to provide jobs for them. But after the second week the locals start dropping like flies.

The employment/unemployment rate is deceptive. It's inflated by seasonal workers, most of them from out of state.

[mitgreb]

Build it......... They will come and go!

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by starlite9

Yep, almost all the bases in Alaska, past and present are toxic waste dumps and are on the list for the Superfund for cleanup. In the 1950's Ft. Greely had a small nuclear plant that had a melt down, they covered it with a concrete pad. Explains the giant moose there eh?

My dad and my friend's dad worked at the Ft. Greely nuclear power plant in the '70's. I had been in it several times as a child....