Current through August 30, 2024
(a) The department
shall manage the late run of Kenai River king salmon to achieve a recovery goal
of 14,250 - 30,000 king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer as
described in this section. Achieving the lower end of the Kenai River late-run
king salmon recovery goal shall take priority over not exceeding the upper end
of the escapement and inriver goal ranges for Kenai and Kasilof River sockeye
salmon.
(b) The purposes of this
management plan are to rebuild the Kenai River late-run king salmon stock to
levels that consistently achieve management targets established by the board
and to provide sustainable harvest opportunities. The Kenai River late-run king
salmon will remain a stock of concern until the department recommends delisting
to the board at a Board of Fisheries meeting and the board adopts the delisting
recommendation. The provisions of this management plan are in effect from June
20 through August 15 and supersede the provisions in
5
AAC 21.359 until the recovery goal is either
(1) achieved or exceeded for three
consecutive years, one of which is at or above 18,000 fish, which is the
estimated number of spawners needed for maximum sustained yield and is expected
to achieve the goal established in (a) of this section in future years;
or
(2) achieved four of six
consecutive years, one of which is at or above 18,000 fish and is expected to
achieve the goal established in (a) of this section in future
years.
(c) If the
recovery goal is projected to be achieved, the commissioner may establish by
emergency order fishing seasons as follows in the Kenai River sport fishery:
(1) retention of king salmon 34 inches or
greater in length, as defined in
5
AAC 75.995(a) is prohibited;
or
(2) retention of king salmon is
prohibited.
(d) In the
Kenai River sport fishery,
(1) If the
recovery goal is not projected to be achieved, the Kenai River is closed to
sport fishing for king salmon; a king salmon that is caught must be released
immediately and a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before
releasing the fish;
(2) from July 1
through August 15, a person may not use more than one unbaited, single-hook,
artificial lure in the Kenai River downstream from an ADF&G regulatory
marker located at the outlet of Skilak Lake;
(3) from the mouth of the Kenai River
upstream to an ADF&G marker at the outlet of Skilak Lake, the bag limit for
sockeye salmon is six per day, 12 in possession; and
(4) that portion of the Kenai River
downstream from an ADF&G regulatory marker located at the outlet of Skilak
Lake is open to unguided sport fishing from a nonmotorized vessel on Mondays in
July; for purposes of this paragraph, a 'nonmotorized vessel' is one that does
not have a motor on board.
(e) The sport fisheries in the salt waters of
Cook Inlet north of the latitude of Bluff Point at 59° 40.00' N. lat., are
closed to the taking of king salmon.
(f) In the Central District, the commercial
drift gillnet fishery is closed within two miles of the Kenai Peninsula
shoreline.
(g) In the Upper
Subdistrict of the Central District set gillnet commercial fishery,
(1) from June 20 through June 30, when the
preseason forecast of king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer is
greater than 14,250 fish, including harvest and forecast error, the Upper
Subdistrict set gillnet fishery may be opened as follows:
(A) each setnet permit holder may use up to
one set gillnet that is not more than 35 fathoms in length and 29 meshes in
depth;
(B) is open for not more
than two eight-hour periods;
(C)
with a 48-hour continuous closure per week, beginning between 7:00 p.m.
Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;
(D)
fishery openings will based upon Seldovia District Tide Tables by section as
follows:
(i) Ninilchik River Mouth to Kasilof
River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-21, 244-22), three hours later than the Seldovia
District low tide;
(ii) Kasilof
River Mouth to Kenai River Mouth (Stat Area 244-31), four hours later than the
Seldovia District low tide;
(iii)
opening times will be based on NOAA certified tide
tables;
(2)
from July 15 through July 27, when the inseason projection of king salmon 75 cm
mid eye to tail fork and longer is greater than 14,250 fish, including harvest
and projection error, the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishery may be opened
as follows:
(A) each setnet permit holder may
use up to one set gillnet that is not more than 35 fathoms in length and 29
meshes in depth;
(B) is open for
not more than four eight-hour periods;
(C) with a 48-hour continuous closure per
week, beginning between 7:00 p.m. Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;
(D) fishery openings will be based upon
Seldovia District Tide Tables by section as follows:
(i) Ninilchik River Mouth to Kasilof River
Mouth (Stat Areas 244-21, 244-22), three hours later than the Seldovia District
low tide;
(ii) Kasilof River Mouth
to Kenai River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-31, 244-32), four hours later than the
Seldovia District low tide;
(iii)
Kenai River Mouth to Boulder Point (Stat Areas 244-41, 244-42), five hours
later than the Seldovia District low tide;
(iv) opening times will be based on NOAA
certified tide tables;
(3) From July 28 through August 15, when the
inseason projection of king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer is
greater than 14,250 fish, accounting for anticipated harvest, projection error
and inseason run strength, the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishery may be
opened as follows:
(A) each setnet permit
holder may use up to one set gillnet that is not more than 35 fathoms in length
and 29 meshes in depth;
(B) is open
for not more than two eight-hour periods;
(C) with a 48-hour continuous closure per
week, beginning between 7:00 p.m. Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;
(D) fishery openings will be based upon
Seldovia District Tide Tables by section as follows:
(i) Ninilchik River Mouth to Kasilof River
Mouth (Stat Areas 244-21, 244-22), three hours later than the Seldovia District
low tide;
(ii) Kasilof River Mouth
to Kenai River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-31, 244-32), four hours later than the
Seldovia District low tide;
(iii)
Kenai River Mouth to Boulder Point (Stat Areas 244-41, 244-42), five hours
later than the Seldovia District low tide;
(iv) opening times will be based on NOAA
certified tide tables;
(4) in the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet
commercial fishery, notwithstanding the provisions of
5
AAC 21.365, and
5
AAC 21.360(c)(1)(B), (2)(B), and
(3)(B), commercial fishing periods will be
based on the abundance of sockeye salmon returning to the Kenai and Kasilof
Rivers;
(5) From June 20 through
July 31;
(A) allow for the use of dip nets as
an alternative gear type for holders of a S04H commercial set gillnet CFEC
permit;
(B) openings may occur
outside of specified openings in this section based on abundance of sockeye
salmon, as announced by emergency order, for not more than three 12-hour
periods per week;
(C) a S04H
commercial set gillnet CFEC permit holder may operate not more than four dip
nets at a time, each dip net must be operated by either the permit holder or an
ADFG licensed crewmember;
(D)
retention of king and coho salmon is prohibited, except that a king salmon that
is brought aboard the vessel or to shore is subject to (i) - (j) of this
section;
(E) fishing with a dip net
may occur from a vessel or from shore; fishing from shore must occur at the
location of a shore fishery tract identified in the recorded plat for that
AS
38.05.082 lease; nothing in this subsection
affects or changes the terms or conditions of an
AS
38.05.082 lease and its
lessee.
(h)
Notwithstanding
5
AAC 21.365, the Kasilof River Special Harvest Area
(KRSHA) is closed to commercial fishing.
(i) Commercially harvested king salmon
(1) may only be delivered to a licensed
shore-based processor or floating processor as defined in
5
AAC 39.130(o) that is required to be
licensed under
AS
43.75.020; and
(2) must be retained and made available to
the department for sampling.
(j) Salmon caught by a CFEC permit holder
must be retained, and each CFEC permit holder must report the number of salmon
caught on an ADF&G fish ticket. For the purposes of this subsection,
"caught" means brought on board a vessel or removed from the water if fishing
from shore with a dip net.
(k) In
the Kenai and Kasilof River personal use fisheries,
(1) retention of king salmon is prohibited in
the Kenai and Kasilof River personal use dip net fisheries; and
(2) a Kasilof River personal use set gillnet
may not exceed 10 fathoms in length, four and three-quarter inches in mesh
size, and 29 meshes in depth.
(l) The department will conduct habitat
assessments on a schedule that conforms to the Board of Fisheries' triennial
meeting cycle, to the extent practicable. The department will report habitat
assessment findings to the board and submit proposals to the board for
appropriate modification of the Kenai River late-run king salmon stock of
concern management plan.
(m) For
purposes of this section, statistical areas in the Central District are defined
as follows:
(1) Statistical Area 244-21
(Ninilchik): waters of the Kasilof Section, as described in
5
AAC 21.200(b)(2)(D), between the
latitude of 60° 14.37' N. lat., to the latitude of the North Ninilchik
River ADF&G regulatory marker located at 60° 04.02' N. lat., and within
one and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai
Peninsula shoreline;
(2)
Statistical Area 244-22 (Cohoe): waters of the Kasilof Section, as described in
5
AAC 21.200(b)(2)(D), between the
latitude of 60° 14.37' N. lat., to the latitude of the South Kasilof River
ADF&G regulatory marker located at 60° 22.56' N. lat., and within one
and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula
shoreline;
(3) Statistical Area
244-31 (South K Beach): waters of the Kasilof Section, as described in
5
AAC 21.200(b)(2)(D), between the
North Kasilof River ADF&G regulatory marker located at 60° 24.23' N.
lat., to 60° 27.10' N. lat., and within one and one-half nautical miles of
the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline.
(4) Statistical Area 244-32 (North K Beach):
waters of the Kenai Section, as described in
5
AAC 21.200(b)(2)(B), between the
latitude of the Blanchard line at 60° 27.10' N. lat., to the latitude of
South Kenai River ADF&G regulatory marker located 60° 30.49' N. lat.,
and within one and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the
Kenai Peninsula shoreline;
(5)
Statistical Area 244-41 (Salamantof): waters of the Kenai Section, as described
in 5 AAC
21.200(b)(2)(B), between the latitude
of North Kenai River ADF&G regulatory marker of 60° 34.24' N. lat., to
the latitude of the base of Colliers Dock at 60° 40.35' N. lat.,
representing the southernmost of the pile-supported docks at Nikiski, and
within one nautical mile of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula
shoreline;
(6) Statistical Area
244-42 (East Foreland): waters of the East Foreland Section, as described in
5
AAC 21.200(b)(2)(A), all waters from
the northern boundary of the Upper Subdistrict at the latitude of Boulder Point
at 60° 40.35' N. lat., to the latitude of the base of Colliers Dock at
60° 40.35' N. lat., representing the southernmost of the pile-supported
docks at Nikiski, and within one nautical mile of the mean high tide mark on
the Kenai Peninsula shoreline.
Authority:AS
16.05.060
AS
16.05.251
