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The recent ruling by an Alaska Superior Court judge has reinstated the ban on personal watercraft, including jet skis, in Kachemak Bay after a two-year-long lawsuit. The ban, which had been in place for nearly two decades, was repealed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 2020. The ban extended through the Kachemak Bay and Fox River Flats Critical Habitat Areas, covering almost 230,000 acres of important fish and wildlife habitat.
Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang argued that the department had the authority to repeal the ban due to changes in jet ski technology since 2001, making them less damaging than other watercraft allowed in the bay. However, environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against the department in 2021 to reinstate the ban, citing concerns about the impact of jet skis on the bay’s shallow habitats critical for juvenile fish and nesting birds.
The lawsuit was ruled in favor of the plaintiffs by Judge Adolf Zeman, who found that the commissioner did not have the authority to repeal the ban, and that repealing the ban was inconsistent with the statute’s intent to protect fish and wildlife in the area.
Despite the ruling, Vincent-Lang disagrees with the decision and plans to file a motion for reconsideration or appeal the decision in a higher court.
The ban on jet skis in Kachemak Bay has raised important questions about the balance between recreational activities and environmental conservation, and the legal battle highlights the challenges of balancing these competing interests.
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