Frustration among Lynn Canal gillnetters about state fisheries management grew this week after Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff declined to attend a public meeting with the fleet.

Local gillnetters have spoken for weeks about decreased numbers of wild-run salmon, including Chilkoot sockeye, whose population, Fish and Game biologists say, will undershoot the state sustainability goal for this year.

Many fishermen have attributed that sockeye population drop to the state’s management of the purse seine fleet in the Northern Panhandle, which they suspect intercepted a significant amount of Lynn Canal-bound salmon. Fish and Game biologists have said in recent weeks they either disagree with that assessment, or don’t have enough information to evaluate it.   

For Thursday’s meeting, fishermen said they hoped to hear from Fish and Game staff about data and research that had led to those purse seine management decisions. They also hoped to advocate for more data gathering, including bringing back fish wheels on the Chilkat River, that might support their contention of Lynn Canal wild-run salmon being in a precarious position. 

But at the meeting, no one from the state agency was on hand to answer questions. That was despite at least two biologists — local management biologist Nicole Zeiser, and one of Zeiser’s supervisors, Southeast region Salmon/Herring Fisheries Management Coordinator Troy Thynes — initially telling gillnetters they would attend. 

According to emails viewed by the CVN that gillnetter Ryan Cook said were sent to him by Thynes, Thynes changed course prior to the meeting. 

“After reviewing the agenda items I believe it would be best to have this discussion at the gillnet task force meeting in December in Juneau,” the emails to Cook read. “There are no pressing items needing to be immediately addressed. Fall management was discussed last year in the task force meeting and addressed in the 2025 gillnet management plan. Waiting to discuss these topics until the task force meeting, the department will be better able to address your concerns as the data will be final and more staff will be available. In addition, the gillnet task force will allow for better, more transparent public participation.”

According to the gillnetters in attendance, Fish and Game staff refusing to attend the meeting is a deviation from the norm. 

Cook said in his 19 years fishing the Lynn Canal, he can’t remember area management biologists declining to meet with the fleet. 

“We’ve always had a connection with the (Alaska Fish and Game Haines office), and they would come and explain things to us.”

Thynes and Zeiser did not respond to requests for comment.