Section 5.05.362. Yukon River Summer Chum Salmon Management Plan.

	(a)  The objective of this management plan is to provide the department with guidelines to manage for the sustained yield of Yukon River summer chum salmon. The department shall use the best available data, including preseason run projections, test fishing indices, age and sex composition, subsistence and commercial harvest reports, and passage estimates from escapement monitoring projects to assess the run size for the purpose of implementing this plan. Management of the summer chum salmon fisheries may be affected during times of king salmon conservation.  
	(b)  When the projected run size of summer chum salmon is 500,000 fish or less,  
		(1) the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the commercial, sport, and personal use directed summer chum salmon fisheries;  
		(2) the department may restrict or close the subsistence summer chum salmon fishery, except that, if indicators show an individual escapement goal in a district, subdistrict, or portion of a district or subdistrict will be met, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, a directed subsistence summer chum fishery in that district, subdistrict, or portion of a district or subdistrict.  
	(c)  When the projected run size of summer chum salmon is more than 500,000 fish, but not more than 650,000 fish,  
		(1) the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the commercial, sport, and personal use directed summer chum salmon fisheries;  
		(2) the department may restrict the subsistence summer chum salmon fishery, except that, if indicators show that individual escapement goals within a district, subdistrict, or portion of a district or subdistrict will be met, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, a less restrictive directed subsistence summer chum fishery in that district, subdistrict, or portion of a district or subdistrict;  
		(3) if indicators show that individual escapement goals and subsistence needs within a district, subdistrict, or portion of a district or subdistrict will be met, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, a summer chum salmon fishery for commercial, sport, or personal use fishing in that district, subdistrict, or portion of a district or subdistrict.  
	(d)  Repealed 5/22/2016.  
	(e)  When the projected run size of chum salmon is more than 650,000 fish, but not more than 750,000 fish, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, a drainagewide commercial fishery to harvest up to 50,000 fish above the run size of 650,000 chum salmon distributed by district or subdistrict in proportion to the guideline harvest levels established in (g) of this section.  
	(f)  When the projected run size of summer chum salmon is more than 750,000 fish, the commissioner may open, by emergency order, a drainagewide commercial fishery managed to achieve escapements within the established drainagewide escapement goal range of 500,000 - 1,200,000 summer chum salmon. The targeted harvest of the surplus will be distributed by district or subdistrict in proportion to the guideline harvest levels established in (g) of this section.  
	(g)  The department shall manage the commercial summer chum salmon fishery for a guideline harvest level of 400,000 - 1,200,000 summer chum salmon to be distributed as follows:  
		(1) Districts 1 and 2: 251,000 - 755,000 fish;  
		(2) District 3: 6,000 - 19,000 fish;  
		(3) Subdistrict 4-A: 113,000 - 338,000 fish, the equivalent roe poundage of 61,000 - 183,000 pounds, or a combination of pounds of roe and numbers of fish;  
		(4) Subdistricts 4-B and 4-C: 16,000 - 47,000 fish;  
		(5) Subdistricts 5-B, 5-C, and 5-D: 1,000 - 3,000 fish;  
		(6) District 6: 13,000 - 38,000 fish.  
	(h)  When the projected summer chum salmon harvest level for Districts 1 - 6 combined is 400,000 fish or less, the department shall distribute the commercial harvest available by percentage to each district or subdistrict as follows:  
		(1) Districts 1 and 2: 62.9 percent;  
		(2) District 3: 1.6 percent;  
		(3) Subdistrict 4-A: 28.2 percent;  
		(4) Subdistrict 4-B and 4-C: 3.9 percent;  
		(5) District 5: 0.3 percent;  
		(6) District 6: 3.2 percent.  
	(i)  All salmon caught by CFEC permit holders during a commercial fishing period when salmon roe is sold, shall be reported in numbers of fish on ADF&G fish tickets. Notwithstanding 5 AAC 05.368, no more than 183,000 pounds of summer chum salmon roe from Subdistrict 4-A may be sold separately each year. If this roe cap is reached, fishing may continue, but all salmon must be sold in the round.  
	(j)  In Subdistrict 4-A and District 6, during times when the commissioner determines that it is necessary for the conservation of king salmon, the commissioner may, by emergency order, close the commercial set gillnet fishing season and immediately reopen the fishing season during which  
		(1) a fish wheel may be used; a fish wheel operated under this subsection must be constructed in a manner that includes  
			(A) basket sides and bottoms consisting of soft mesh material similar to or made of seine web; and  
			(B) an adjustable or fixed slide or chute that  
				(i) consists of a smooth bottom and closed cell foam lined sides; and  
				(ii) returns king salmon immediately to the water;  
		(2) the permit holder shall be present at and attend the fish wheel at all times while the fish wheel is in operation; and  
		(3) all king salmon caught in the fish wheel must be returned immediately to the water alive.  
	(k)  In Districts 1 - 3, during times when the commissioner determines that it is necessary for the conservation of king salmon, the commissioner may, by emergency order, close the commercial gillnet fishing season and immediately reopen a fishing season during which  
		(1) a permit holder may fish with  
			(A) up to four dip nets; notwithstanding 5 AAC 39.105(d)(24), for the purposes of this subparagraph, a dip net is a bag-shaped net supported on all sides by a rigid frame in which no portion of the bag is constructed of webbing that exceeds a stretched measurement of four and one-half inches and the frame is attached to a single rigid handle and operated by hand; the depth of the bag must be at least one-half of the greatest straight-line distance, as measured through the net opening; for a dip net with  
				(i) a circular net frame, 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) a net frame that is not a circular net frame, the width-height dimensions may not exceed six feet by three feet;  
			(B) beach seine gear; a beach seine may not be constructed of monofilament web and may not exceed  
				(i) 150 fathoms in length;  
				(ii) 100 meshes in depth;  
				(iii) a mesh size of four inches stretched measure; and  
		(2) all king salmon caught in dip net and beach seine gear must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed.  

Authorities

16.05.060;16.05.251;16.05.258

Notes

Authority

AS 16.05.060 AS 16.05.251 AS 16.05.258

History

Eff. 6/14/90, Register 115; am 7/12/96, Register 139; am 4/22/99, Register 150; am 6/17/2001, Register 158; em am 7/1/2009 - 10/28/2009, Register 191; am 5/9/2010, Register 194; am 7/13/2012, Register 203; am 4/13/2013, Register 206; am 5/18/2014, Register 210; am 5/22/2016, Register 218