I read with interest your Dec. 16, 2014 article on the raw fish tax the Haines Borough receives, mostly from the purse seine catches. I enthusiastically support Bill Thomas’ statements about some of that money being spent on harbors for the fishermen, but more specifically for the fishermen who produce the bulk of that tax, the purse seine fleet! The Excursion Inlet area pays all of that tax, and gets zero in return.
Perhaps the Haines Borough, in gratitude for us ponying up the funds for this little shake-down racket, could at least put in a few floats for the seiners, trollers, longliners and tenders waiting to deliver there. We wouldn’t even need a harbor, like those little bitty gillnetters do in Haines itself.
Wayne Alex
Executive Director, Douglas Island Purse Seiners Association