National Fisherman Magazine on the Tongass 77

One of the country’s most widely read commercial fishing magazines — National Fisherman – has published a guest editorial by Juneau seiner David Clark about his support for the Tongass 77 campaign. Clark’s piece, called Talking Tongass, is in the June issue of the magazine. Read it here. In his “Dock Talk” column, Clark talks about how he came to make commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska his livelihood more than a decade ago and why he wants to see the Tongass’ prime salmon watersheds managed with fish production as the top priority.

“My livelihood, like those of the 7,300 or so other people in Southeast whose jobs revolve around salmon are trout, is largely dependent on healthy habitat. It’s the rain forest of Southeast Alaska, with its 17,600 or so miles of salmon rivers, lakes and creeks that sustains my income and those of so many others. Fishermen commercially harvest nearly 50 million salmon every year in Southeast Alaska. The Tongass National Forest of Southeast Alaska is one of the few places left where wild salmon remain healthy and abundant. That’s why I support the Tongass 77, a grassroots campaign to get Congress to permanently protect 77 key salmon watersheds in Southeast Alaska that are open to development.”
 
Dave flew back to Washington, DC, with a Trout Unlimited-sponsored delegation of other fishermen and tour operators to lobby Congress to support the campaign and introduce Tongass 77 legislation.

 We thank Dave for his support of the Tongass 77 and for sharing his words with National Fishermen readers. Congress needs to hear the voices of the commercial fishing fleet and all others who care about the future of wild salmon. Please add your name to the Tongass 77 sign-on letter here.   

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