Section 5 AAC 07.365 - Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Plan(a) The purpose of this management plan is to provide guidelines for management of the Kuskokwim River salmon fisheries that result in the sustained yield of salmon stocks large enough to meet escapement goals, amounts reasonably necessary for subsistence uses, and for nonsubsistence fisheries. The department shall use the best available data, including preseason and in season run projections, test fishing indices, age and sex composition, harvest reports, passage escapement estimates, and recognized uncertainty, to assess run abundance for the purpose of implementing this plan.(b) It is the intent of the Board of Fisheries that the Kuskokwim River salmon stocks shall be managed in a conservative manner consistent with the Policy for the Management of Sustainable Salmon Fisheries under 5 AAC 39.222 to meet escapement goals and the subsistence priority.(c) In the king salmon fishery, (1) when the projected escapement of king salmon is below the drainagewide escapement goal range, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the commercial, sport, and subsistence king salmon fisheries;(2) when the projected escapement of king salmon is within the drainagewide escapement goal range, the commissioner shall open and close fishing periods, by emergency order, as follows: (A) the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the commercial, sport, and subsistence king salmon fisheries, and after June 11, to the extent practicable, the commissioner shall open, by emergency order, at least one fishing period per week for a directed subsistence king salmon fishery to provide harvest opportunity on surplus king salmon in excess of escapement needs (B) after June 11, fishing may be opened for commercial and sport fisheries to provide harvest opportunity on surplus king salmon in excess of escapement and subsistence needs;(C) notwithstanding (c)(2)(A) of this section, before June 12 the commissioner shall open by emergency order, at least one subsistence fishing period per week with four-inch or smaller mesh gillnets; the gillnet may only be operated as a set gillnet and no part of the set gillnet may be more than 100 feet from the ordinary high water mark; (3) when the projected escapement of king salmon exceeds the drainagewide escapement goal range, (A) the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the commercial, sport, and subsistence king salmon fisheries, and after June 11, the directed subsistence king salmon fishery will be open seven days per week; and(B) after June 11, the commercial and sport fisheries will be managed to provide harvest opportunity on surplus king salmon in excess of escapement and subsistence needs.(C) notwithstanding (c)(3)(A) of this section, before June 12 the commissioner shall open, by emergency order, at least one subsistence fishing period per week with six-inch or smaller mesh gillnets; the gillnet may only be operated as a set gillnet and no part of the set gillnet may be more than 100 feet from the ordinary high water mark;(4) notwithstanding the provisions of (2) and (3) of this subsection, if the department determines there is a harvestable surplus of king salmon, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, a subsistence king salmon fishery during which (A) king salmon may be taken only by a person 60 years of age or older; and(B) a person authorized to take king salmon under this paragraph may not authorize a proxy to take or attempt to take king salmon under AS 16.05.405 or 5 AAC 01.011, but the participant may be assisted by family members within the second degree of kindred; in this subparagraph., "within the second degree of kindred" has the meaning given in 5 AAC 92.990(a).(d) In the subsistence fishery, in the Kuskokwim River drainage, in the waters of the mainstem of the river and other salmon spawning tributaries, unless otherwise specified by the department, (1) the subsistence salmon net and fish wheel fisheries will be open seven days per week, except that if the commissioner determines that it is necessary in order to achieve escapement goals, the commissioner may alter fishing periods, by emergency order, based on run abundance;(2) the commissioner may implement one or more of the gear limitations as described in 5 AAC 01.270(n) during times the commissioner determines that it is necessary for the conservation of king salmon;(3) actions to conserve king salmon may be applied to the entire Kuskokwim River, its sections, or tributaries, consistent with harvest trends and variability in abundance of king salmon available for harvest as the run progresses upstream;(4) the commissioner may alter the subsistence hook and line bag and possession limits specified in 5 AAC 01.295, by emergency order, if the commissioner determines that inseason information indicates it is necessary for conservation purposes.(e) In the commercial fishery, (1) the guideline harvest level for king salmon and sockeye salmon is as follows: (A) 0 - 50,000 king salmon;(B) 0 - 50,000 sockeye salmon;(2) only the waters of District 1 may be opened during the first commercial salmon fishing period;(3) the commissioner shall open and close the Kuskokwim River commercial salmon fishery, by emergency order, if inseason information indicates a run strength that is large enough to provide for a harvestable surplus and a reasonable opportunity for subsistence uses and for nonsubsistence fisheries;(4) the department shall provide, to the extent practicable, at least 24 hours advance notice of the opening of Districts 1 and 2 commercial fishing periods;(5) Districts 1 and 2 commercial fishing periods are from 12:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m.; when longer fishing periods are allowed, the extra time is to be divided before 12:00 p.m. and after 6:00 p.m.;(6) the department shall manage the commercial fishery to ensure there is no significant impact on escapement or allocations of salmon species as a result of incidental harvest in commercial fisheries directed at other salmon species;(7) in June and when king salmon are abundant, the department shall manage the commercial fishery conservatively to ensure king salmon escapement goals are achieved and reasonable opportunity for subsistence uses is provided in consideration of harvest trends and abundance of king salmon available for the subsistence fishery, as follows: (A) when the projected escapement of king salmon is within the drainagewide escapement goal range, (i) the first opening may not occur until after June 23;(ii) only the waters of Subdistrict 1-B may be opened during the first commercial fishing period;(iii) at least 72 hours must pass between the first Subdistrict 1-B opening and the first Subdistrict 1-A opening;(B) when the projected escapement of king salmon exceeds the drainagewide escapement goal range, the commercial fishery will be managed to provide harvest opportunity on surplus king salmon in excess of escapement and subsistence needs;(8) when chum salmon abundance exceeds king salmon relative abundance, the department shall manage, to the extent practicable, the commercial salmon fishery based on chum salmon run strength;(9) when coho salmon abundance exceeds chum salmon abundance, the department shall manage, to the extent practicable, the commercial salmon fishery based on coho salmon run strength;(10) a person may not sell salmon roe taken in Districts 1 and 2;(11) notwithstanding 5 AAC 07.331, during times when the commissioner determines that it is necessary for the conservation of salmon, the commissioner may, by emergency order, close the commercial gillnet fishing season and immediately reopen a fishing season during which(A) a permit holder may fish with up to four dip nets; for purposes of this subparagraph, a dip net is a bag-shaped net supported on all sides by a rigid frame and (i) the maximum straight-line distance between any two points on the net frame, as measured through the net opening, may not exceed five feet;(ii) the depth of the bag must be at least one-half of the greatest straight-line distance, as measured through the net opening;(iii) no portion of the bag may be constructed of webbing that exceeds a stretched measurement of four and one-half inches; and(iv) the frame must be attached to a single rigid handle, or a single rigid handle with a single line attached and be operated by hand;(B) a permit holder may fish with beach seine gear that(i) is not constructed of monofilament web; and(ii) does not exceed 50 fathoms in length, 100 meshes in depth, and a mesh size of three and one-half inches stretched measure;(C) all salmon specified by the commissioner caught in dip net and beach seine gear must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed.(f) In the sport fishery, (1) if the commissioner restricts the fishery, by emergency order, for conservation purposes, the restrictions must be based on the level of abundance;(2) in the Aniak River drainage, the king salmon fishery is open from May 1 through July 25, with a bag and possession limit of two fish, 20 inches or greater in length, with an annual limit of two fish, 20 inches or greater in length; the sockeye, pink, chum, and coho salmon fisheries are open year round, with a combined daily bag and possession limit of three fish, of which no more than two fish may be king salmon;(3) actions to conserve king salmon will only be implemented when king salmon are present, consistent with migratory timing as the run progresses upstream.Eff. 6/10/87, Register 102; am 4/2/88, Register 105; am 6/14/90, Register 115; am 6/10/98, Register 146; am 6/17/2001, Register 158; am 7/8/2001, Register 159; am 5/19/2004, Register 170; am 6/7/2007, Register 182; am 5/19/2010, Register 194; am 4/13/2013, Register 206; am 4/18/2014, Register 210, July 2014; am 5/24/2015, Register 214, July 2015; am 5/22/2016, Register 218, July 2016; am 4/22/2017, Register 222, July 2017; am 6/21/2020, Register 234, July 2020; am 5/24/2023, Register 246, July 2023Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251
AS 16.05.258