An Alaska state regulatory panel is considering permanently allowing dipnets in Cook Inlet's commercial setnet salmon fishery and soliciting public comment, the Peninsula Clarion reported.

After giving "emergency authorization," the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), in June, decided against permanent approval of dipnets, which are popular with sport fishers but rarely allowed for commercial harvests. The commission cited concerns with safety, efficiency, viability and cost. 

Glenn Haight, who sits on the CFEC, said many of those concerns were the purview of the Board of Fisheries which regulates fishing in Alaska waters to the three-mile mark, the report said.

But a notice published Friday, (Oct. 11) said the CFEC is reconsidering that decision, the Kenai, Alaska-based newspaper reported.

The CFEC will hold a hybrid hearing from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Nov. 2 in Kenai at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association’s headquarters on Kalifornsky Beach Road. 

The newspaper reported that the commission will decide whether to adopt the regulation change or take no action after the public comment period. 

According to in-season harvest estimates from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, commercial dipnetters in the east side setnet fishery caught nearly 27,000 sockeye salmon and a single king salmon. For comparison, the nearby central district drift fishery caught 1.6 million sockeye and nearly 80 kings.

Public comment on the proposal closes Nov. 22.