Both sides laud decision on fish refuge
Pebble Mine: State Fisheries Board votes to create advisory panel.

December 12, 2006
Anchorage Daily News (AK)
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK

The state Board of Fisheries decided Monday to hold off on a proposal to form a fisheries refuge in Bristol Bay drainages in and around the massive Pebble gold, copper and molybdenum deposit.

Instead, the seven-member board voted unanimously to create a panel to evaluate whether protections for fisheries in Bristol Bay need to be beefed up.

Anti- and pro-Pebble forces were both quick to claim victory in the board's decision at its Dillingham meeting.

"Board of Fisheries resists pressure to establish fish refuge in Bristol Bay," crowed a statement from Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., the company exploring Pebble.

Trout Unlimited, a sportfishing group that supports the refuge concept, proclaimed: "Alaska Board of Fisheries sends message that fish come first in Bristol Bay!"

The reality is that the board came down on the refuge proposal almost exactly how the Palin administration officials asked it to.

According to a faxed copy of the board's action Monday, the panel will:

• Review the state's protections for fish in the Bristol Bay region and decide whether more protections are needed.

• Review options such as creating a state fisheries refuge in Bristol Bay if additional protective measures are deemed necessary.

• Consider expanding the original proposal for a fisheries refuge -- limited to drainages adjacent to Pebble -- to include all waters of the Nushagak and Kvichak river drainages.

• Monitor any pending state legislation related to Bristol Bay fisheries protection and advise the Board of Fisheries.

The panel will be composed of three of the seven board members.

The board cannot create a refuge. It can only recommend one to the Legislature.

The original board proposal, filed by Homer resident George Matz, asked the board to lend its support to creating a refuge in the Upper Talarik, Lower Talarik and Koktuli drainages.

The board took on the hot-button topic during its Dillingham meeting that began Dec. 4 and is wrapping up this week.

The board was besieged with impassioned testimony from people who flew in from all over Alaska and as far away as Washington, D.C. Among those weighing in: commercial fishermen, attorneys, biologists and Native villagers in the region.

The proposal's backers said the refuge would protect Bristol Bay fisheries from potential harm from mining.

Northern Dynasty opposed the proposal, claiming it was a thinly veiled attempt to stop the mine. Northern Dynasty also told the board that existing state rules are sufficient to protect fisheries.

Palin's fish policy adviser said last week in a radio interview that the new governor wanted the board to postpone a decision on the refuge. He suggested forming a task force to study the issue further.

In an interview broadcast by KDLG, Dillingham's public radio station, Alan Austerman said the Palin administration "doesn't want a knee-jerk reaction" to a mine that doesn't exist yet.

Austerman also said that the administration didn't want the board to completely drop the refuge idea either, but instead "keep it alive."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily News reporter Elizabeth Bluemink can be reached at ebluemink@adn.com or 257-4317.

Date: 12/12/2006