Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 1 - Commercial and Subsistence Fishing and Private Nonprofit Salmon Hatcheries
Chapter 06 - Bristol Bay Area
Article 3 - Salmon Fishery
5 AAC 06.331 - Gillnet specifications and operations

Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 06.331

Current through August 30, 2024

(a) Gillnet mesh size restrictions are as follows:

(1) gillnet mesh size may not exceed five and one-half inches during periods established by emergency order for the protection of king salmon and in the Naknek-Kvichak and Ugashik Districts from June 1 through July 22;

(2) gillnet mesh size may not be less than five and three-eighths inches during periods established by emergency order for the protection of pink salmon;

(3) gillnet mesh size may not exceed four and three-quarters inches during periods established by emergency order for the protection of sockeye and coho salmon;

(4) gillnet mesh size may not be less than seven and one-half inches during periods established by emergency order for the protection of sockeye salmon;

(5) from 9:00 a.m. June 15 to 9:00 a.m. July 15, mesh size restrictions for the Togiak District are as provided in 5 AAC 06.369(d);

(6) from June 1 through July 1, mesh size restrictions for the Egegik District are specified in 5 AAC 06.365(e).

(b) No gillnet may be more than 29 full meshes in depth, including the selvages.

(c) Except as provided in 5 AAC 06.333, a person may not operate or assist in the operation of a drift gillnet exceeding 150 fathoms in length or a set gillnet exceeding 50 fathoms in length.

(d) Repealed 3/26/76.

(e) Except as provided in 5 AAC 06.333, a vessel registered for salmon net fishing may not have on board it or any vessel towed by it, during an open fishing period, more than 150 fathoms of drift gillnet gear in the aggregate. Additional gear may be transported to another district under conditions specified by the department.

(f) A person may not operate more than two set gillnets, and the aggregate length of set gillnets operated by that person may not exceed 50 fathoms in length. Notwithstanding 5 AAC 39.240(a), in the Bristol Bay Area, a

(1) person may assist in the operation of additional set gillnet gear when the CFEC interim-use or entry permit card holder of the additional gear is present in compliance with 5 AAC 39.107;

(2) vessel may have more than one legal limit of set gillnet fishing gear on board the vessel.

(g) The operation of a gillnet shall be performed or assisted by the person who holds a valid interim-use or entry permit card for that gear.

(h) Set gillnets shall be operated in substantially a straight line.

(i) A set gillnet must be set on an area of a beach that, at mean low tide, is connected by exposed land to the shore or to land not covered at high tide, except that in the Togiak District between a point on the southernmost mouth of the Kulukak River at 58° 54.94' N. lat., 159° 43.81' W. long. and a point at the eastern entrance to Metervik Bay at 58° 50.47' N. lat., 159° 45.25' W. long., between Rocky Point at 58° 53.30' N. lat., 160° 14.70' W. long. and 160° 20' W. long., and between Togiak Reef at 58° 59.62' N. lat., 160° 30.10' W. long. and a point near Mt. Aeolus at 58° 54.82' N. lat., 160° 44.06' W. long., no part of a set gillnet may be more than 500 feet from the mean high tide mark and the set gillnet must be substantially perpendicular to the shoreline.

(j) Picking salmon from a gillnet is considered to be a part of the fishing operation and shall be performed only by a fisherman who holds a crewmember fishing license or a valid interim-use or entry permit card.

(k) Repealed 3/26/76.

(l) Each fisherman shall operate or assist in operating only one type of gear at any one time.

(m) In the Naknek-Kvichak, Egegik, Ugashik, and Togiak Districts, no part of a set gillnet may be more than 1,000 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark, except that

(1) repealed 3/1/92;

(2) repealed 3/1/92;

(3) in the Egegik District, from one mile south of Big Creek to Big Creek, no part of a set gillnet may be more than 1,000 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark or 450 feet from the 13-foot high tide mark;

(4) in the Naknek Section of the Naknek-Kvichak District north of the terminus of the Naknek River,
(A) no more than one set gillnet may be seaward of another set gillnet; and

(B) no part of a set gillnet may be more than 1,200 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark;

(5) in the Kvichak Section of the Naknek-Kvichak District from Libbyville Dock to a point near Graveyard Point at 58° 52.10' N. lat., 157° 00.80' W. long, and from the unnamed creek on the northwest shore of Kvichak Bay at 58° 52.25' N. lat., 157° 06.75' W. long. north to a point on the northwest shore of Kvichak Bay at 58° 53.37' N. lat., 157° 04.26' W. long., the maximum distance that a set gillnet may be operated offshore is as follows:
(A) no part of a set gillnet may be more than 1,000 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark; or

(B) the web of the shoreward end of the set gillnet must go dry at the time of the opening;

(6) deleted;

(7) repealed 6/24/93;

(8) in the Ugashik District, in that portion of the east bank of the Ugashik River from a point at 57° 30.74' N. lat., 157° 24.10' W. long. to 57° 32.27' N. lat., 157° 24.36' W. long., no part of a set gillnet may be more than 800 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark.

(n) in the Nushagak District, and subject to (v) of this section, a CFEC salmon interimuse or entry permit holder may not set or operate a set gillnet seaward of set gillnets operated by another CFEC salmon interim-use or entry permit holder. In addition, no part of a set gillnet, anchor, peg, stake, buoy, or other device used to set the gillnet may be seaward of the following offshore locations:

(1) repealed 5/11/85;

(2) from the cannery dock at Clark's Point to Range Marker at 58° 47.929' N. lat., 158° 33.539' W, long., to 58° 47.572' N. lat., 158° 32.883' W. long., to 58° 47.447' N. lat., 158° 32.510' W. long., to 58° 47.232' N. lat., 158° 31.657' W. long., to First Creek at 58° 47.057' N lat.. 158° 30.743' W. long., approximately 600 feet from the mean high tide mark;

(3) from First Creek at 58° 47.057' N. lat., 158° 30.743' W. long., to 58° 46.991' N. lat., 158° 30.559' W, long., to 58° 46.866' N. lat., 158° 29.795' W, long., to Third Creek, at 58° 46.629' N. lat., 158° 28.155' W. long., approximately 800 feet from the mean high tide mark;

(4) from Third Creek at 58° 46.629' N. lat., 158° 28.155' W. long., to 58° 46.469' N. lat. 158° 27.054' W. long., to 58° 45.748' N. lat., 158° 24.570' W. long., to 58° 45.283' N. lat., 158° 23.470' W. long., to 58° 44.711' N. lat., 158° 22.545' W. long., to 58° 43.417' N. lat., 158° 21.171' W. long., to 58° 41.972' N. lat., 158° 20.579' W. long., to 58° 40.503' N. lat., 158° 20.270' W. long., to 58° 40.156' N. lat., 158° 20.444' W. long., to 58° 39.765' N. lat., 158° 20.273' W. long., to a point offshore of Etolin Point at 58° 39.299' N. lat, 158° 19.661' W. long., approximately 1,100 feet from the mean high tide mark;

(o) No salmon CFEC permit holder may set or operate a set gillnet seaward of set gillnets operated by another salmon CFEC permit holder in the following locations:

(1) Togiak, Nushagak, Ugashik, and Egegik Districts;

(2) the west side of the Kvichak Section;

(3) repealed 7/14/85;

(4) the east side of the Kvichak Section north of Happy Creek;

(5) the Naknek Section south of the terminus of the Naknek River.

(p) Setnet anchoring devices must be within the offshore distance requirements set out in (m) and (n) of this section, except as follows:

(1) in the Naknek Section north of the Naknek River, the anchoring device may not be more than 1,300 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark;

(2) in the Nushagak District where offshore restrictions are not in effect, the anchoring device may not be more than 50 feet from the web of the net.

(q) During the hours between sunset and sunrise, each gillnet must display a light. For drift gillnets, the light must be located at the end of the net furthest from the fishing vessel. For set gillnets, the light must be a blinking white light and must be located at the end of the net furthest from the shore.

(r) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 39.105(d) (3), in the Bristol Bay Area, a person may not operate a drift gillnet when the vessel to which it is attached is grounded, or when any part of the gillnet is grounded above the waterline.

(s) In the Bristol Bay Area, a person may not use mechanical power to hold a vessel in substantially the same geographical location while attached to a drift gillnet.

(t) A permit holder fishing in the Bristol Bay Area must report the loss of a gillnet, or portion of a gillnet, to the local department office in Dillingham or King Salmon within 15 hours of the loss of the gillnet, or portion of the gillnet. For the purposes of this subsection, the report must be made directly to a local representative of the department in person or by radio or telephone.

(u) Repealed 4/4/2013.

(v) The provisions of (n) of the section do not apply after May 31, 2026.

Authority:AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251

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