5 AAC 75.210. Special management areas and liberal harvest opportunities for trout

(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.

History: Eff. 4/23/98, Register 146; am 11/19/2003, Register 168

Authority: AS 16.05.251

Editor's note: 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.

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