“Our long-term goal is to make this the premier event when it comes to fisheries policy, research and science, and we're working toward that goal,” Debora King, executive director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, said Oct. 18. “We're gearing up to get things done. It's become pretty dry and we need to pick things up.”

Political debates have proven an attractive drawing card at Comfish in the past. Incumbents Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both R-Alaska, are up for re-election in October 2008. The field of challengers is already getting crowded.

The ComFish debate generally focuses on fisheries issues, but a number of general topics are likely to come up too.

The 28th annual ComFish will focus on seminars and a trade show, with the chamber inviting participation only from businesses and organizations directly related to the commercial fisheries industry. The chamber is also considering a related community event, in conjunction with ComFish, for others to participate in and help showcase the local economy, King said.

ComFish, once a fund-raiser for Kodiak's Chamber of Commerce started out as an event during the community's annual Crab Fest, but grew to be a separate entity, attracting a number of people in the commercial fisheries industry.

For the last five years, the chamber has seen no profit from the event, which was drawing fewer participants than it had in the past. Some blamed privatization of the crab fisheries under the federal crab rationalization plan, but economic statistics have not been able to pinpoint the problem to date.