In the original ruling dismissing the case, Superior Court Judge Sen K. Tan agreed with the state's argument that the salmon fishermen's complaint failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted.

At issue was whether permits are compensable property under the takings clauses of the federal and state constitutions. The plaintiffs argued that the Board of Fisheries has no regulatory power to suspend, modify or revoke the permits; that the permits confer exclusive fishing rights; that the permits are "valuable and transferable"; that the permits can be used as collateral for loans; and that even applicants for the permits have protected property interests that entitle them to due process protections.

The state responded that the " permits provide permit holders nothing more than a use privilege or license to fish, subject to all applicable regulations adopted by the Board of Fisheries."

There also were statute of limitation questions and other matters considered in the decision.

The full Supreme Court ruling can be found through the "Courts" link at the state of Alaska Web site.

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The International Pacific Halibut Commission has received a $500,000 grant from NOAA to monitor ocean conditions from Oregon to the Bering Sea.

In the course of conducting its annual stock surveys, the IPHC dispatches chartered fishing vessels to more than 1,200 fishing stations. The grant will allow the IPHC to fit those vessels with water-column profilers to be deployed at each station. The profilers will collect data on salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, ocean acidity (pH) and fluorescence (chlorophyll) throughout the water column, which will provide a unique and valuable annual snapshot of oceanic conditions above the continental shelf over most of the northeast Pacific Ocean. Implementation of the full data collection process will begin with the 2009 IPHC survey program.

IPHC Executive Director Dr. Bruce Leaman commented, "This is a tremendous opportunity for partnership between the IPHC and NOAA in the establishment of a long-term data set that will benefit all researchers and allow us to improve our understanding of significant events and changes in the ocean environment. The longer-term effects of ocean warming and acidification as well as the increasing frequency of hypoxic zones in the ocean are strong determinants in the population dynamics of halibut and other marine species. Data collected under this grant will be paired with observations of species abundance at each IPHC survey station, providing a rich data set to improve our understanding of these influences. We are very excited to receive the support of NOAA in this program."

Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at cristy-fry@excite.com