Video Clips

Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.

Clips from Alaska Board of FisheriesClear

Mr. Lee (Department of Law)

“this most aligns with Proposal 141, which was invalidated by the Attorney General... I just want to remind the board to make a clear, distinct record for this proposal than it did from the prior proposal, especially as it concerns allocation.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Tom Carpenter “I was just— I just wanted to make sure that if hundreds and hundreds of people showed up in Bethel for a meeting where I could only assume would still warrant that kind of participation, that the infrastructure that's in place and the, you know, the ability to get in in flights and the amount of rooms that are available available so that we're not going to, like, you know, disenfranchise people from going because there's a limiting factor there.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Tom Carpenter “this board did something very similar to this last year. They moved a meeting out of Cordova that had been there for 50 years based on these exact reasons that I'm bringing up right now.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Tom Carpenter “My experience in Bristol Bay in the winter is that there's very little open. I agree with Mr. Wood, what he said earlier, that getting out to different parts of the state and holding meetings is, is an important function. And I don't think that they should necessarily all be in Anchorage, Ketchikan, or Fairbanks. But this one has— this one's more concerning to me in regards to logistics. Places to stay, opportunities to eat.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Olivia Irwin “Madam Chair, move the board host the Bristol Bay Finfish 2028 meeting in Dillingham.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mr. Lee (Department of Law)

“I think for the purposes of the ACR criteria under subsection C, it's when the board takes the action of adopting the regulation. Now, that is distinct legally from whether or not it is codified into law and becomes effective law on behalf of the state of Alaska.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “I think the board would be doing a disservice to the public and to itself by not, by not going out there. So I fully support Dillingham.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “I think I've beaten the, the public up enough on, on the Department of Law. I will rest on my correspondence, uh, with the Department of Law.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “I'll speak to the lower Kuskokwim and the lower Yukon are home to 56 communities roughly and about 30,000 people in Alaska. They're in the— and just about everyone in that region depends on subsistence heavily.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Forrest Bowers “most of our AYK staff are located in either Anchorage or Fairbanks, so, um, you know, we— there would be additional travel involved with a meeting in Bethel and additional costs for my division.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mike Wood “I guess my only problem, my only thought was not knowing So I went to Bethel last year, 2 years ago, for the Kuskwim River Salmon Management Working Group to partake in that.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “Madam Chair, I move that the Board of Fish hold the AYK Finfish meeting in Bethel.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

James Jackson

“ACR 6 and 7, establish a 10-day consecutive day closure between June 10th and June 23rd for seine and drift gillnet gear in the South Unimak and Shoemaker Islands June Salmon Management Plan, 5AAC-09365.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Tom Carpenter “Once again, I think this is even— and I know that the meeting has been in Dillingham before. Um, the time of year that it's scheduled is a little concerning to me.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “I believe that this was a duplication of proposal number 147. Which was adopted by the board during a regular cycle regulatory meeting by a vote of 6 to 1. And I believe that, again, that speaks to the policy criteria for ACR's 1C.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “that money stays in Alaska. Uh, it'll provide an economic boost to, uh, a community in a, in a low period, which I think an economic diversity for Western Alaska and a lot of the rural communities.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Olivia Irwin “I do not think it's predominantly allocative when we're not meeting, when escapement objectives are not being met, when border passage objectives are not being met, and when subsistence priority opportunities are not able to be reasonably provided.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “Were elements of this ACR a part of any of the voided packages, proposal packages?”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mike Wood “That's the same year that we decided to go to Bethel. We can't do cool every time, so I think, uh, we can afford to go one place that year. As much as I'd love to go to Dillingham to host a meeting, we just chose Bethel. So I suggest we stay in Anchorage for that meeting.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Tom Carpenter “To me, new information is not something that was thrown out by somebody at the Department of Law. New information would be something that the board has brought to the attention, and I haven't heard anything personally that's different than the conversation that we had when 141 was passed.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

James Jackson

“there was a proposal that was passed that had harvest caps, and that was one of the ones that was voided by Department of Law.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mike Wood “I think there is a limit on how much we should ask the board or this department to spend to get us out there in a season.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

James Jackson

“ACR 8, amend the Post-June Salmon Management Plan for the South Alaska Peninsula to enforce king salmon caps with reductions in commercial salmon fishing time in the South Alaska Peninsula, 5AAC09366.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “Motion carries, 5 in favor, 2 against. Madam Chair.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mike Wood “I don't know, is it just as easy to get on a plane and go to Fairbanks as it would be to go to Bethel, you know. And so that I wouldn't want it to create any added expense to the people to actually— well, that would be overly expensive to get there.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mike Wood “I really want to call into question that I don't feel like law has resolved the issue that's before us. The us being allowed to vote on ACRs versus what's going to end up happening with these ACRs is, is not yet resolved.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Olivia Irwin “For the time of year of the concern with travel, we held this meeting in Dillingham in 2018, also in the winter, November 28th to December 2nd. Um, so as far as I'm concerned, I don't really have concerns for the timing of the year, and I think it would be great to get out to communities as much as possible.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “I do think that agenda change criteria 1C applies. Furthermore, I think it's even stranger because 141 is even more questionable that it was voided because I don't believe that was a 4-3 vote.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “I think this provides a unique opportunity for the board to really— to get to know a region that has been, um, by, by, you know, meeting location, chronically underrepresented and under, underpresented to the board.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Mike Wood “the user groups that are in Dillingham are typical— majority of them in a commercial fleet are not from in the state. Same with the sport fishing lodges that operate out there that want to— they'll all fly into Anchorage in order to have discussions on Bristol Bay.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “141 was a 5-2 vote, um, and the new information is based on a legally questionable and unprecedented action by the Department of Law.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “It was adopted in a vote of 4-3 by this board. It was voided by a legally questionable and unprecedented action by the Department of Law. And I think that definitely falls squarely into the unforeseen category.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Tom Carpenter “I guess I just would like to hear from Mr. Chamberlain about, you know, his reasons that that's obviously traditionally not been a place. We've either had it in Anchorage or Fairbanks.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/29/2026) · Oct 29, 2026

Nick Dakovich

“There are currently 5 king stocks designated as Stocks of Management Concern in Upper Cook Inlet: Alexander Creek, Ch'uwitna River, East Side Susitna River, Kenai River Late Run, and Theodore River. None of these stocks meet delisting criteria at this time as returns continue to be poor.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “I want to ask Eddie from the Department of Law, does the Department of Law have any questions for me or have anything else that they want me to elaborate on further?”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “However, less than 12 hours before the meeting, I was informed that my statement would be shared with the board. Having worked in project management, I know that maintaining confidentiality among 7 individuals is impossible, and to control the narrative, I opted to disclose my communication, uh, with the public to ensure the narrative doesn't go off the rails.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Nick Dakovich

“On the motion to designate Anchor River Chinook salmon as a stock of yield concern, correct?”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Edward Lee

“A violation was found, but whether or not that constitutes a conflict of interest is something for the ethics attorney to comment on in further explaining that.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “The Department of Law opted to hide behind confidentiality to obfuscate what can only be a political decision and a series of delay tactics and ambush, ambush techniques to throw me off. If that's to be, I'd rather this happen in the light of day”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “I've written 13 pages here, single-spaced, and I've gone through everything I can think of.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Olivia Irwin “we're about to go over Cook Inlet stock of concern designations where we're about to list 13, potentially list over 13 Chinook stocks.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Olivia Irwin “Madam Chair, I move the board adopt the department's recommendations for stock of concern designations for the Upper Cook Inlet.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Birch Foster

“we have found that specifically to the last 4 years of returns, the 2019 and 2020 July air temperatures, and then resulting in, resulted in very high water temperatures, over 20 degrees Celsius in Karlik River during the spawning time of the kings.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “recently a board member complained at the Alaska Peninsula Aleutian Island meeting that I get paid six figures and then that may influence my decision-making.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “the Department of Law issued a finding of ethical violations in my disclosures before the Alaska Peninsula Aleutian Island Chignik Lagoon meeting last year. Though it did not make a finding of conflict and it did not rule that I misrepresented or lied in any way, it opined that I did not sufficiently disclose my background but offered as a remedy the ability to seek an advisory opinion from the Department of Law so the board can correct this error in the future.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Olivia Irwin “My motion was for the board to adopt Anchor River King Salmon as a stock of yield concern.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Marit Carlson-Van Dort “At that time, no member moved to revisit, no member objected, and there was no reason to call a revote because no member objected or called for a revote.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026

Curt Chamberlain “And when I did that, they called me and said, well, we voided everything you did, and you— and you— and you violated these ethics acts. And, but we're going to keep it quiet and nobody's going to know about it. So you're not going to, you're not going to face the blame. I've gone through hell this summer.”

Alaska Board of Fisheries: 2026 Board of Fisheries Work Session (10/28/2026) · Oct 28, 2026