Following a two-year long legal battle, personal watercrafts such as Jet Skis are once again prohibited in Kachemak Bay. A Alaska Superior Court judge ruled against the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in a court case earlier in the month.
In the year 2020 the Fish and Game removed a jet ski ban which had been in effect for more than two decades. The ban was extended to Kachemak Bay as well as Fox River Flats Critical Habitat Areas which covers nearly 230,000 acres that cover the majority of the bay’s waters and marshlands and mud flats on the northeastern portion of the bay.
Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said the department was able to lift the ban since in 2001, jet skis were allowed to be used in areas where they would not cause more harm than watercrafts that are allowed within the bay.
“We didn’t see any possible impact of the allowing of jet skis” the official said.
The Alaska State Legislature established these zones in the 70s to be particularly important for wildlife and fish.
In the wake of this, Cook Inletkeeper, Kachemak Bay Conservation Society, Friends of Kachemak Bay State Park and the Alaska Quiet Rights Coalition filed lawsuits with the department for 2021 seeking to restore the ban.
Cook Inletkeeper co-executive director Sue Mauger stated that they filed the lawsuit due to concerns regarding the impact of jet skis on the bay when compared with other watercraft.
“Just the way it is moving in shallow waters and the behavior typical in these areas is distinctive,” she said. “They aren’t typically an actual transport from A B and generally occur in groups and generally tend to be in more shallow habitats that are essential for young nesting birds or fish.”
The judge Adolf Zeman ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, based the ruling on two factors.
First, the law that established critical habitat zones for repealing the ban on jet skis didn’t grant the commissioner authority to end the ban.
In addition, the court ruled that the repeal of the ban was not in accordance with the purpose of the statute. In this instance the department is given the power to make regulations and amend them with the protection of wildlife and fish in the area as their main objective. The court concluded that the repeal of the ban was not consistent with the intent of the department.
But Vincent-Lang isn’t happy with this decision.
“We’re deeply confused by the decision of the judge,” he said. “We appear to have the power to change an ordinance that would ban jet skis, however we’re not in a position to revise this regulation based on the latest research.”
In the future, he states that the department will file an appeal or a motion to appeal the decision to an appeals court.
