Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 2 - Sport Fishing and Personal Use Fishery
Chapter 73 - Yukon River Area
5 AAC 73.055 - Yukon River Area Wild Arctic Grayling Management Plan

(a) By employing a conservative harvest regime, the department shall manage wild Arctic grayling populations in the Yukon River Area for long-term sustained yield. Following sustained yield principles, the department may manage wild Arctic grayling fisheries to provide or maintain fishery qualities that are desired by sport anglers.

(b) In a sport fishery covered by this management plan, the commissioner, by emergency order, may take one or more of the management actions specified in this subsection if there are conservation or biological concerns for the sustainability of the fishery or for a stock harvested by that fishery. The concerns must arise from harvest, effort, or catch data for that fishery which has been derived from statewide harvest survey data, on-site creel survey data, stock status data, stock exploitation rates, or from inferential comparisons with other fisheries. The management actions are as follows:

(c) To achieve sustained yield and provide diverse fishing opportunities, the board and department will manage wild Arctic grayling fisheries under one of three management approaches. The three management approaches are the

(d) Regional management approach. Under the regional management approach, sport anglers may use baited or unbaited artificial lures and the bag and possession limit is five fish. The season is open year round, however there are fisheries where catch-and-release is imposed during part or all of the spawning period from April 1 through May 31.

(e) Conservative management approach. Under the conservative management approach, sport anglers may use baited or unbaited single-hook artificial lures. The bag and possession limit is two fish. The fishing season is open year round, and is restricted to catch-and-release fishing during the spawning period of April 1 through May 31. The use of size limits does apply to certain stocks and fisheries under this approach. If a fishery for a species other than Arctic grayling occurs in the water body, the use of larger multiple hooks and bait on larger single and multiple hooks is allowed.

(f) Proposed changes to the conservative management approach may

(g) Special management approach. Under the special management approach, only unbaited single-hook artificial lures and unbaited single-hook artificial flies may be used. Size limits may be imposed for certain fisheries and may include trophy designation, which is a fish 18 inches or greater in length. The bag limit is one fish, except that a fishery may be restricted to catch-and-release fishing, or closed. Single-hook waters may be established. The fishing season is open year round, but fishing is restricted to catch-and-release fishing during the April 1 through May 31 spawning period. If a fishery for a species other than Arctic grayling occurs in the same water body, the use of larger multiple hooks and bait on larger single and multiple hooks is allowed.

(h) Proposals to change the management approach for a water body or fish stock to the special management approach should tend to diversify sport fishing opportunities, such as by limiting fishing to catch-and-release fishing, limiting fishing to fly-fishing, or limiting harvest to fish that qualify for a trophy designation, meaning that a fish retained must be 18 inches or greater in length. Before adopting changes to the special management approach, the board should review any overlapping or concurrent fisheries that harvest other species, and attempt to minimize gear conflicts, or seasonal use pattern conflicts with those fisheries. The board should tend to adopt the special management approach for a fishery exhibiting particular conservation, biological, or restoration issues. The board should tend to adopt the approach for a water body or for a fish stock that presents a unique opportunity for conducting research. That opportunity would exist, for example, where the stock or water body is located near a research facility or within a unique habitat, or where there is an unexploited population that could be studied to determine population parameters such as natural mortality, growth rate, or the age at sexual maturity.

(i) The department shall manage the Nome Creek under the special management approach.

(j) If a proposal for managing wild Arctic grayling would apply to a water body in which there are fisheries for other species, the department will, if practicable, provide detailed information to the board about potential conflicts that may be caused by the proposal.

(k) In addition to other criteria in this section, the board should consider applicable components of the following issues when dealing with a proposal for managing wild Arctic grayling under the conservative and special management approaches: