(Anchorage) – As salmon surge into Southcentral fisheries, anglers and dipnetters are reminded to properly dispose of fish waste by Alaska Department of Fish and Game. A press release released warns that discarding fish waste on public, private property or along roads, pull-offs and trails can attract bears into areas frequented by the public and result in fines ranging from $300 to $1,000. In Anchorage, where nearly 300,000 people live in close proximity to bears, fish waste is discarded each summer in vacant lots, greenbelts, and along local streams and lakeshores. Anchorage Area Wildlife Biologist Cory Stantorf stresses the importance of proper disposal of fish waste especially in Anchorage near the rivers and highly used trail systems. According to the release, illegally discarded fish waste has also created problems in Matanuska-Susitna Valley communities and on the Kenai Peninsula.
Anglers who clean fish on site are encouraged to chop carcasses into numerous pieces and throw them into fast-moving water. ADF&G suggests that anglers who remove fish from a fishing site and fillet or process them somewhere else should not put waste into trash cans the night before trash pick-up and suggests the option to freeze fish waste to eliminate odors before placing it out with garbage.