Title 5 . Fish and Game

Chapter 6 . Transportation, Possession and Release of Live Fish; Aquatic Farming

Section 360. Naknek River Sockeye Salmon Special Harvest Area Management Plan

5 AAC 06.360. Naknek River Sockeye Salmon Special Harvest Area Management Plan

(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 ADF&G regulatory markers located at 58ΓΈ 43.37' N. lat., 157ΓΈ 03.17' W. long. and at 58ΓΈ 42.67' N. lat., 157ΓΈ 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, and the allocation specified in 5 AAC 06.364(b) (3)(A) and (B) will apply in the NRSHA.

(d) When a set gillnet opening is occurring,

(1) the provisions of (e)(3) of this section do not apply;

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

(e) When the NRSHA is open under this section,

(1) no more than 25 fathoms of set gillnet may be used to take salmon;

(2) no set gillnet may be set or operated within 150 feet of another set gillnet;

(3) no part of a set gillnet may be more than 500 feet from the 18-foot high tide mark;

(4) repealed 5/14/98;

(5) no more than 50 fathoms of drift gillnet may be used to take salmon;

(6) no CFEC permit holder may use more than one gillnet to take salmon at any one time;

(7) no vessel may have more than 150 fathoms of drift gillnet or 50 fathoms of set gillnet on board;

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

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

(10) repealed 6/3/2001.

(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.

History: Eff. 4/18/86, Register 98; am 5/21/87, Register 102; am 6/19/92, Register 122; am 4/9/95, Register 134; am 5/14/98, Register 146; am 6/3/2001, Register 158; am 4/9/2004, Register 170; am 4/21/2004, Register 170

Authority: AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251