Feds 'regret the confusion' over 3-mile line

You might recall the recent uproar over new federal charts that changed the location of the 3-mile line between state and federal waters in parts of Alaska.

The redraw had the effect of chasing some commercial fishermen off productive cod grounds in Kachemak Bay and elsewhere. That's because those waters suddenly were beyond state jurisdiction.

Alaska officials complained.

Now comes word that, for this year at least, the feds will honor the old 3-mile line with respect to fishery management.

"I regret the confusion," Eric Schwaab, head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, says in this letter to state Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell.

Here is Campbell's initial protest, and a press release from her office.