Erickson said he fought to preserve funding for a salmon tagging program, which would help lawyers defend the state's pink salmon fishery management in court. But a similar case could not be made for plankton and fry studies proposed by University of Alaska biologists, he said. Either they were not familiar with the time needed to provide meaningful data, or they were interested in a quick fix, something they could report back to the public real quick. Under the Bush administration, studies for commercial species like salmon were frequently vetoed most recently the tagging study, which state biologists said was necessary to protect damaged wild pink runs. The tagging study was restored this year.
Some critics say a master plan for the studies was needed from the start.
Trustee science adviser Spies said that's a valid criticism. The peer reviewers were asked to sort through projects proposed by the agencies. An ad hoc group in Cordova, including fishermen involved in the tanker blockade, is now drawing up a set of proposals for how to spend that money. Their recommendations may include projects to replenish salmon runs that could mean contracts for the financially strapped aquaculture corporation. The commitment to ecosystem studies may give new impetus to proposals for a scientific research endowment funded by the oil-spill settlement.