Current through August 30, 2024
(a) Salmon may only
be taken under the authority of a personal use fishing permit.
(b) The department shall adhere to the
following when issuing personal use salmon fishing permits:
(1) the fishing effort must be allowed in
places and during times when resource abundance will allow a harvest without
jeopardizing the sustained yield of the stock and in a manner which provides
for an orderly fishery;
(2) any
gear must be allowed which is efficient and economical in light of local
circumstances and which provides for an orderly harvest without waste of the
resource;
(3) possession limits may
be established if resources are limited relative to anticipated harvest
levels;
(4) the department may not
set any possession limit which jeopardizes the sustained yield of a
stock;
(5) a permit is valid for
the entire season in which it is issued;
(6) the department may require the permit
holder to report daily harvests on the catch calendar which accompanies the
permit.
(c) The
department will not issue a permit for the taking of wild king or coho salmon,
but king and coho salmon taken incidentally by gear operated under the terms of
a personal use permit for other salmon are legally taken and possessed for
personal use purposes. The holder of a personal use salmon permit shall report
any king or coho salmon taken in this manner on that permit holder's permit
calendar. The possession limit for king salmon is two fish and the possession
limit for coho salmon is six fish.
(d) Salmon, trout, or char taken incidentally
by gear operated under the terms of a personal use permit for salmon are
legally taken and possessed for personal use purposes. A holder of a personal
use permit shall report any salmon, trout, or char taken in this manner on the
permit holder's permit calendar.
(e) No person may possess personal use-taken
and sport-taken salmon on the same day.
(f) In the Taku River drainage, the annual
limit for each personal use sockeye salmon permit is 10 sockeye salmon for a
household of one person and 20 sockeye salmon for a household of two or more
persons.
(g) Salmon may be taken by
gear listed in
5
AAC 01.010(a) except as may be
restricted on a personal use fishing permit and except as follows:
(1) in District 13, Redoubt Bay, gillnet or
seine gear may not be used to take salmon in any waters of the bay closed to
commercial salmon fishing;
(2) set
gillnets may not be used to take salmon except
(A) in the mainstream and side channels, but
not the tributaries, of the Chilkat River from the terminus to one mile
upstream of Wells Bridge;
(B) in
the Taku River drainage from the Taku River Lodge upstream to the United
States/Canada border, salmon may be taken by set gillnets only;
(C) repealed 7/1/2015;
(D) set gillnets may be used in Yes Bay north
of a line from Bluff Point to Syble Point, except within 500 yards of the
terminus of Wolverine Creek; the personal use permit holder shall be physically
present at the gillnet while it is in operation;
(3) in the Chilkat and Taku rivers and in
Shipley Bay and Yes Bay, the personal use permit holder shall be physically
present at the net while it is in operation;
(4) a gillnet may not exceed 50 fathoms in
length, except in the Taku River a set gillnet may not exceed 15 fathoms in
length;
(5) salmon may not be taken
by the use of a line attached to a pole or rod;
(6) fishing gear may not obstruct more than
one-half the width of any salmon stream, side channel, creek, river, bay, or
waterway.
(h) Salmon may
be taken at any time except
(1) as may be
restricted under the terms of a personal use fishing permit;
(2) from July 7 through August 7, sockeye
salmon may be taken in the waters of the waters of Klawock Harbor enclosed by a
line from the northernmost tip of Klawock Island at 55º 33.42' N. lat.,
133º 06.38' W. long. to Klawock Island Light to the Klawock Cannery Dock
at 55º 33.47' N. lat., 133º 05.96' W. long., the Klawock River, and
Klawock Lake only from 8:00 a.m. Monday until 5:00 p.m. Friday;
(3) in the Taku River drainage, sockeye
salmon may be taken only in waters from the Taku River Lodge upstream to the
United States/Canada border and only from July 1 through July 31.
(i) The following waters are
closed to the personal use taking of salmon:
(1) in District 13, Sitkoh Bay and the Sitkoh
River drainage are closed to the taking of sockeye salmon;
(2) in District 15, Lynn Canal including
Chilkat, Chilkoot and Lutak inlets, during the closed periods of the commercial
salmon net fishery in the district.
(3) the Klawock River drainage upstream of
the Klawock River Bridge.
(j) Salmon taken for personal use or under
personal use regulations may not be subsequently used as bait for commercial
fishing purposes.
(k) In the
Ketchikan Management Area, in waters open to personal use salmon fishing under
a household personal use salmon fishing permit, and unless otherwise specified
in a terminal harvest area under 5 AAC 33 or
5
AAC 77.685, the possession and annual limits for
salmon per household are as follows:
(1)
sockeye salmon: the possession limit is 10 sockeye salmon, with an annual limit
of 20 sockeye salmon, except as follows:
(A)
District 1: in McDonald Lake, near Yes Bay, the possession and annual limit is
20 sockeye salmon;
(B) District 2:
in the following waters, the possession limit is 12 sockeye salmon, with an
annual limit of 50 sockeye salmon:
(i) Kegan
River;
(ii) Thorne
River;
(2) pink
salmon: the possession limit is 150 pink salmon, with no annual limit;
(3) chum salmon: the possession
limit is 25 chum salmon, with no annual limit.
(l) In the Petersburg-Wrangell Management
Area, in waters open to personal use salmon fishing under a household personal
use salmon fishing permit, and unless otherwise specified in a terminal harvest
area under 5 AAC 33 or
5
AAC 77.685, the possession and annual limits for
salmon per household are as follows:
(1)
sockeye salmon may not be taken for personal use, except that in District 6, in
Hatchery Creek, sockeye salmon may be taken with a possession limit of six
sockeye salmon and an annual limit of 18 sockeye salmon;
(2) pink salmon: the possession limit is 100
pink salmon, with no annual limit;
(3) chum salmon: the possession limit is 50
chum salmon, with no annual limit.
(m) In the Sitka Management Area, sockeye
salmon may not be taken for personal use, except that in Takanis Bay and
Takanis Lake, combined, sockeye salmon may be taken under a household personal
use salmon fishing permit with a possession and annual limit of 50 sockeye
salmon per household.
(n) In the
Juneau Management Area, in waters open to personal use salmon fishing under a
household personal use salmon fishing permit, and unless otherwise specified in
a terminal harvest area under 5 AAC 33 or
5
AAC 77.685, the possession and annual limits for
salmon per household are as follows:
(1)
sockeye salmon may not be taken for personal use, except that in the following
waters sockeye salmon may be taken with the following possession and annual
limits:
(A) Sweetheart Creek: the possession
limit is 25 sockeye salmon, with no annual limit;
(B) Taku River drainage: the possession and
annual limit are as specified in (f) of this section;
(2) pink salmon: the possession limit is 150
pink salmon, with no annual limit;
(3) chum salmon: the possession limit is 50
chum salmon, with no annual limit.
(o) In the Haines Management Area, salmon may
not be taken for personal use, except that in the Taiya River, pink and chum
salmon may be taken under a household personal use salmon fishing permit with a
possession limit of 10 pink and chum salmon, combined, with an annual limit of
20 pink and chum salmon, combined, per household.
(p) For the purposes of this section, the
(1) Ketchikan Management Area consists of the
waters of the Southeastern Alaska Area in Districts 1 - 4;
(2) Petersburg-Wrangell Management Area
consists of the waters of the Southeastern Alaska Area in Districts 5 - 8,
Section 9-B, and District 10;
(3)
Sitka Management Area consists of the waters of the Southeastern Alaska Area in
Section 9-A, District 12 south of the latitude of Point Hayes and west of a
line midway between the shoreline of Admiralty Island and the shorelines of
Chichagof Island, Baranof Island, and Catherine Island, and District
13;
(4) Juneau Management Area
consists of the waters of the Southeastern Alaska Area in Districts 11, 12, 14,
and 16, except for those waters of District 12 described in (3) of this
subsection;
(5) Haines Management
Area consists of the waters of the Southeastern Alaska Area in District
15.
Authority:AS
16.05.251
