Friday was the first day of a two week long meeting for the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
Over the next two weeks, the board will be listening to public testimony and review as many as 236 proposals.
Among the proposals scheduled for consideration include amendments to the Upper Cook Inlet management plan, and management of the Kenai Kings for sport, commercial and personal use, and a look at escapement goals.
It was conservation issues in the Matanuska-Susitna valley that brought Larry Engel to the gathering. He said the only way to solve the problem is if all fishing groups pitch in.
"It's going to take all users, harvesters, resources to change some of their ways and depart it to this movement of bringing the runs back to health," Engel said.
Orville Huntington, a member of the Board of Fisheries, said the board will be carefully considering the data presented on Friday.
Huntington said one of the main concerns right now is how to return the Chinook salmon to a healthy population.
"A lot of the other salmon species are just fine, it's just the Chinook salmon in particular that really having a lot of problems," Huntington said.
The deadline for people to testify was extended to 11 a.m. on Saturday. The board will take public testimony beginning Saturday morning.