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 06.360 - Naknek River Sockeye Salmon Special Harvest Area Management Plan

Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 06.360

Current through August 30, 2024

(a) The goal of this plan is to achieve Kvichak River sockeye salmon spawning escapement goals, while providing opportunities to harvest Naknek River salmon stocks that are in excess of spawning goals. It is the intent of the Board of Fisheries that salmon in the Naknek-Kvichak District should be harvested in the fisheries that have historically harvested them, including the methods, means, times, and locations of those fisheries, using the best biological management techniques and practices. This plan has been adopted to provide management alternatives that can be used by the department when differences in salmon run strengths would preclude the achievement of the goal of this plan using only the fisheries that have historically harvested those salmon.

(b) The Naknek River Special Harvest Area (NRSHA) consists of the waters of the Naknek River from a line between two points located at 58° 43.37' N. lat., 157° 03.17' W. long, and at 58° 42.67' N. lat., 157° 03.44' W. long, upstream to the power lines across the river.

(c) On or after June 27, when the department projects that the sockeye salmon escapement into the Naknek River will exceed 800,000 fish and the Kvichak River escapement projection is one or more days behind schedule for reaching its escapement goal, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, the NRSHA to the drift gillnet and set gillnet fisheries. The drift gillnet and set gillnet fisheries will open separately, with a seasonal ratio of three drift gillnet gear fishing periods to every one set gillnet fishing period.

(d) The following provisions apply to set gillnet fishing in the NRSHA:

(1) no more than 37.5 fathoms of set gillnet may be used to take salmon;

(2) a set gillnet may not be set or operated within 150 feet of another set gillnet;

(3) beyond 500 feet from shore, all gear associated with set gillnet fishing must be removed when it is not being used to fish in the NRSHA;

(4) repealed 4/4/2013;

(5) set gillnet running lines may not be in the water during a drift gillnet fishing period;

(6) repealed 8/14/2006;

(7)5 AAC 06.331(i), (m), (o), and (p) do not apply except that the anchoring device may not be more than 50 feet from the web of the net;

(8) a set gillnet may be set and operated seaward of another set gillnet.

(e) The following provisions apply to drift gillnet fishing in the NRSHA:

(1) no more than 75 fathoms of drift gillnet may be used to take salmon;

(2) a CFEC permit holder may not use more than one gillnet to take salmon at any time;

(3) a vessel may not have more than 150 fathoms of drift gillnet or 75 fathoms of set gillnet on board the vessel;

(4) a drift gillnet may not be operated shoreward of the offshore end of a set gillnet; and

(5) no part of a drift gillnet may be operated within 150 feet of the side of a set gillnet.

(f) When the NRSHA is open to commercial fishing, the department shall manage the fishery, to the extent practicable, for an optimal escapement goal of 800,000 - 2,000,000 salmon.

(g) After July 17, when the Naknek-Kvichak District is open to commercial fishing in the NRSHA, the commissioner may establish, by emergency order, new fishing periods other than the periods specified in 5 AAC 06.320(c) (2), during which the requirements for reregistration and the 48-hour transfer notification period specified in 5 AAC 06.370 will apply.

(h) If the preseason forecast for the Kvichak River sockeye salmon is less than 30 percent above the minimum biological escapement goal, the commissioner may, by emergency order, open the NRSHA to the drift gillnet and set gillnet fisheries.

(i) The commissioner may, by emergency order, open the NRSHA when the Naknek River escapement exceeds the mid-point of the escapement goal range and is projected to exceed the upper end of the escapement goal range; in the event of an emergency opening of the NRSHA

(1) fishing periods may open concurrently with fishing periods in the Naknek Section and the Naknek-Kvichak District, except that drift gillnet fishing periods may close one hour before high tide;

(2) fish harvested in the NRSHA shall be delivered before fishing the Naknek Section or the Naknek-Kvichak District; and

(3) fish harvested in the Naknek Section or the Naknek-Kvichak District shall be delivered before fishing in the NRSHA.

Authority:AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251

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