(a) The Board
of Fisheries (board) may consider proposed regulatory changes dealing with
(1) special management areas for bodies of
water that would diversify sport fishing opportunity, such as
catch-and-release, fly-fishing only, or trophy designation, for populations of
wild trout;
(2) liberalization of
harvest opportunities for trout in bodies of water.
(b) When the board considers proposed
regulatory changes for a special management area under (a) of this section, the
board will consider the changes in accordance with the following criteria:
(1) stock status: the body of water must
contain trout populations that are naturally reproducing and possess some
unique characteristic; the trout populations must have retained historical size
and age composition, and numbers of trout or the area must have retained the
habitat attributes necessary to allow these population characteristics to
return to historic proportions if regulations dealing with establishment of a
body of water as a special management area are adopted;
(2) history of special management: a body of
water that the public perceives as having provided "quality" trout fishing in
the past is preferred over a water that does not have a history of "quality"
trout fishing;
(3) proximity to a
community: to avoid conflict with traditional consumptive use patterns by local
residents, a body of water is preferred if it is not located near enough to a
permanent community to be commonly used or visited by local residents, unless
the regulations dealing with establishment of the body of water as a special
management area are requested or supported by the community;
(4) legal access: a body of water with more
than 50 percent of its banks or shores publicly owned, or a navigable
designation, is preferred;
(5)
conflict with freshwater net fisheries: a body of water that is seasonally or
spatially segregated from subsistence, personal use, and commercial net
fisheries is preferred;
(6)
abundance and size of the trout population: a body of water with unusually high
numbers of trout, with uniquely large trout, or documented as having trout that
have been entered in the department's program giving public recognition to
anglers who take fish that meet minimum weight or length standards within a
given species, identified in department publications as its "trophy fish
program," is preferred;
(7) clear
geographical boundaries: a body of water with clearly distinguishable legal
regulatory boundaries is preferred;
(8) relative economic importance of the wild
trout fishery: a body of water with high economic value to the state is
preferred;
(9) geographical
distribution of special management waters: this criterion considers the
proximity of a body of water to other special management waters and the
availability of alternative locations not designated for special management;
and
(10) research, educational, or
unique considerations: a body of water may be designated for special management
for research or educational reasons.
(c) The board may provide harvest
opportunities for trout more liberal than the standards provided for in
5
AAC 75.220 if the department has sufficient biological
information to ensure that a more liberal harvest will not jeopardize the
objectives of optimal sustained yield for a particular body of water.
Effective 11/19/2003, Register 168, the substance of 5
AAC 75.210 was relocated from
5
AAC 75.013. The history note for 5 AAC 75.210 carries
forward the history of
5
AAC 75.013.
