A group has sued over the state's rejection of a proposed initiative that sought to ban commercial shore gill nets and set nets in non-subsistence areas. The lawsuit by the Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance says Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell relied on an "erroneous" legal opinion in rejecting the proposal. Supporters of the proposal have billed it as a conservation effort. The state Department of Law in its review for Treadwell said the proposal "would significantly undermine" a constitutional ban on so-called appropriation by initiative by effectively transferring salmon from one group of users to another. Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said she had no comment on the suit.
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