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The initiative to ban setnets in urban areas of Alaska is an environmental issue. It is about protecting fish stocks and other sea animals from an outdated, harmful type of fishing gear. Setnets are simply walls of death.

Eight other states have voted to eliminate or enacted stringent limitations on these types of nets after witnessing the environmental and ecological damage they cause. Setnets are notorious for snagging unintended victims, or bycatch. Anything that passes near these nets can get tangled, including species that are threatened or in decline, such as our precious Kenai king salmon that have seen a dangerous drop in numbers. In fact, setnets have the highest rate of bycatch of any fishing method allowed in our state waters, meaning that their impact on ecosystems is very damaging.

Read more at the Alaska Dispatch News>>

Want to read more about Cook Inlet setnetting? Click here...

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