5 Alaska Admin. Code § 21.382

Current through August 30, 2024

Section 5 AAC 21.382 - Kenai River late-run king salmon stock of concern management plan

(a) The department shall manage the late run of Kenai River king salmon to achieve a recovery goal of 14,250 - 30,000 king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer as described in this section. Achieving the lower end of the Kenai River late-run king salmon recovery goal shall take priority over not exceeding the upper end of the escapement and inriver goal ranges for Kenai and Kasilof River sockeye salmon.

(b) The purposes of this management plan are to rebuild the Kenai River late-run king salmon stock to levels that consistently achieve management targets established by the board and to provide sustainable harvest opportunities. The Kenai River late-run king salmon will remain a stock of concern until the department recommends delisting to the board at a Board of Fisheries meeting and the board adopts the delisting recommendation. The provisions of this management plan are in effect from June 20 through August 15 and supersede the provisions in 5 AAC 21.359 until the recovery goal is either

(1) achieved or exceeded for three consecutive years, one of which is at or above 18,000 fish, which is the estimated number of spawners needed for maximum sustained yield and is expected to achieve the goal established in (a) of this section in future years; or

(2) achieved four of six consecutive years, one of which is at or above 18,000 fish and is expected to achieve the goal established in (a) of this section in future years.

(c) If the recovery goal is projected to be achieved, the commissioner may establish by emergency order fishing seasons as follows in the Kenai River sport fishery:

(1) retention of king salmon 34 inches or greater in length, as defined in 5 AAC 75.995(a) is prohibited; or

(2) retention of king salmon is prohibited.

(d) In the Kenai River sport fishery,

(1) If the recovery goal is not projected to be achieved, the Kenai River is closed to sport fishing for king salmon; a king salmon that is caught must be released immediately and a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before releasing the fish;

(2) from July 1 through August 15, a person may not use more than one unbaited, single-hook, artificial lure in the Kenai River downstream from an ADF&G regulatory marker located at the outlet of Skilak Lake;

(3) from the mouth of the Kenai River upstream to an ADF&G marker at the outlet of Skilak Lake, the bag limit for sockeye salmon is six per day, 12 in possession; and

(4) that portion of the Kenai River downstream from an ADF&G regulatory marker located at the outlet of Skilak Lake is open to unguided sport fishing from a nonmotorized vessel on Mondays in July; for purposes of this paragraph, a 'nonmotorized vessel' is one that does not have a motor on board.

(e) The sport fisheries in the salt waters of Cook Inlet north of the latitude of Bluff Point at 59° 40.00' N. lat., are closed to the taking of king salmon.

(f) In the Central District, the commercial drift gillnet fishery is closed within two miles of the Kenai Peninsula shoreline.

(g) In the Upper Subdistrict of the Central District set gillnet commercial fishery,

(1) from June 20 through June 30, when the preseason forecast of king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer is greater than 14,250 fish, including harvest and forecast error, the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishery may be opened as follows:

(A) each setnet permit holder may use up to one set gillnet that is not more than 35 fathoms in length and 29 meshes in depth;

(B) is open for not more than two eight-hour periods;

(C) with a 48-hour continuous closure per week, beginning between 7:00 p.m. Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;

(D) fishery openings will based upon Seldovia District Tide Tables by section as follows:

(i) Ninilchik River Mouth to Kasilof River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-21, 244-22), three hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(ii) Kasilof River Mouth to Kenai River Mouth (Stat Area 244-31), four hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(iii) opening times will be based on NOAA certified tide tables;

(2) from July 15 through July 27, when the inseason projection of king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer is greater than 14,250 fish, including harvest and projection error, the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishery may be opened as follows:

(A) each setnet permit holder may use up to one set gillnet that is not more than 35 fathoms in length and 29 meshes in depth;

(B) is open for not more than four eight-hour periods;

(C) with a 48-hour continuous closure per week, beginning between 7:00 p.m. Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;

(D) fishery openings will be based upon Seldovia District Tide Tables by section as follows:

(i) Ninilchik River Mouth to Kasilof River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-21, 244-22), three hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(ii) Kasilof River Mouth to Kenai River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-31, 244-32), four hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(iii) Kenai River Mouth to Boulder Point (Stat Areas 244-41, 244-42), five hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(iv) opening times will be based on NOAA certified tide tables;

(3) From July 28 through August 15, when the inseason projection of king salmon 75 cm mid eye to tail fork and longer is greater than 14,250 fish, accounting for anticipated harvest, projection error and inseason run strength, the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishery may be opened as follows:

(A) each setnet permit holder may use up to one set gillnet that is not more than 35 fathoms in length and 29 meshes in depth;

(B) is open for not more than two eight-hour periods;

(C) with a 48-hour continuous closure per week, beginning between 7:00 p.m. Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;

(D) fishery openings will be based upon Seldovia District Tide Tables by section as follows:

(i) Ninilchik River Mouth to Kasilof River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-21, 244-22), three hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(ii) Kasilof River Mouth to Kenai River Mouth (Stat Areas 244-31, 244-32), four hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(iii) Kenai River Mouth to Boulder Point (Stat Areas 244-41, 244-42), five hours later than the Seldovia District low tide;

(iv) opening times will be based on NOAA certified tide tables;

(4) in the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet commercial fishery, notwithstanding the provisions of 5 AAC 21.365, and 5 AAC 21.360(c)(1)(B), (2)(B), and (3)(B), commercial fishing periods will be based on the abundance of sockeye salmon returning to the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers;

(5) From June 20 through July 31;

(A) allow for the use of dip nets as an alternative gear type for holders of a S04H commercial set gillnet CFEC permit;

(B) openings may occur outside of specified openings in this section based on abundance of sockeye salmon, as announced by emergency order, for not more than three 12-hour periods per week;

(C) a S04H commercial set gillnet CFEC permit holder may operate not more than four dip nets at a time, each dip net must be operated by either the permit holder or an ADFG licensed crewmember;

(D) retention of king and coho salmon is prohibited, except that a king salmon that is brought aboard the vessel or to shore is subject to (i) - (j) of this section;

(E) fishing with a dip net may occur from a vessel or from shore; fishing from shore must occur at the location of a shore fishery tract identified in the recorded plat for that AS 38.05.082 lease; nothing in this subsection affects or changes the terms or conditions of an AS 38.05.082 lease and its lessee.

(h) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 21.365, the Kasilof River Special Harvest Area (KRSHA) is closed to commercial fishing.

(i) Commercially harvested king salmon

(1) may only be delivered to a licensed shore-based processor or floating processor as defined in 5 AAC 39.130(o) that is required to be licensed under AS 43.75.020; and

(2) must be retained and made available to the department for sampling.

(j) Salmon caught by a CFEC permit holder must be retained, and each CFEC permit holder must report the number of salmon caught on an ADF&G fish ticket. For the purposes of this subsection, "caught" means brought on board a vessel or removed from the water if fishing from shore with a dip net.

(k) In the Kenai and Kasilof River personal use fisheries,

(1) retention of king salmon is prohibited in the Kenai and Kasilof River personal use dip net fisheries; and

(2) a Kasilof River personal use set gillnet may not exceed 10 fathoms in length, four and three-quarter inches in mesh size, and 29 meshes in depth.

(l) The department will conduct habitat assessments on a schedule that conforms to the Board of Fisheries' triennial meeting cycle, to the extent practicable. The department will report habitat assessment findings to the board and submit proposals to the board for appropriate modification of the Kenai River late-run king salmon stock of concern management plan.

(m) For purposes of this section, statistical areas in the Central District are defined as follows:

(1) Statistical Area 244-21 (Ninilchik): waters of the Kasilof Section, as described in 5 AAC 21.200(b)(2)(D), between the latitude of 60° 14.37' N. lat., to the latitude of the North Ninilchik River ADF&G regulatory marker located at 60° 04.02' N. lat., and within one and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline;

(2) Statistical Area 244-22 (Cohoe): waters of the Kasilof Section, as described in 5 AAC 21.200(b)(2)(D), between the latitude of 60° 14.37' N. lat., to the latitude of the South Kasilof River ADF&G regulatory marker located at 60° 22.56' N. lat., and within one and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline;

(3) Statistical Area 244-31 (South K Beach): waters of the Kasilof Section, as described in 5 AAC 21.200(b)(2)(D), between the North Kasilof River ADF&G regulatory marker located at 60° 24.23' N. lat., to 60° 27.10' N. lat., and within one and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline.

(4) Statistical Area 244-32 (North K Beach): waters of the Kenai Section, as described in 5 AAC 21.200(b)(2)(B), between the latitude of the Blanchard line at 60° 27.10' N. lat., to the latitude of South Kenai River ADF&G regulatory marker located 60° 30.49' N. lat., and within one and one-half nautical miles of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline;

(5) Statistical Area 244-41 (Salamantof): waters of the Kenai Section, as described in 5 AAC 21.200(b)(2)(B), between the latitude of North Kenai River ADF&G regulatory marker of 60° 34.24' N. lat., to the latitude of the base of Colliers Dock at 60° 40.35' N. lat., representing the southernmost of the pile-supported docks at Nikiski, and within one nautical mile of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline;

(6) Statistical Area 244-42 (East Foreland): waters of the East Foreland Section, as described in 5 AAC 21.200(b)(2)(A), all waters from the northern boundary of the Upper Subdistrict at the latitude of Boulder Point at 60° 40.35' N. lat., to the latitude of the base of Colliers Dock at 60° 40.35' N. lat., representing the southernmost of the pile-supported docks at Nikiski, and within one nautical mile of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline.

5 AAC 21.382

Eff. 6/8/2024, Register 250, July 2024

Authority:AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251