Section 5.06.358. Wood River Sockeye Salmon Special Harvest Area Management Plan.

	(a)  The goal of this plan is to achieve Nushagak River coho salmon spawning escapement, while providing opportunities to harvest Wood River sockeye salmon stocks that are in excess of spawning goals. It is the intent of the Board of Fisheries (board) that salmon in the Nushagak 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 may be used by the department when differences in salmon run strengths would otherwise preclude the achievement of the goal of this plan.  
	(b)  The Wood River Special Harvest Area consists of the waters of the Wood River between a line from Hansen Point at 59_ 06.05' N. lat., 158_ 29.30' W. long. to a point across from Hansen Point at 59_ 06.29' N. lat., 158_ 28.84' W. long. and upstream to a line from a point on the west shore of the Wood River downstream of the Muklung River at 59_ 09.71' N.lat., 158_ 32.61' W. long. to a point on the east shore of the Wood River downstream of the Muklung River at 59_ 09.78' N. lat., 158_ 31.99' W. long., and the waters between a line from a point on the west shore of the Wood River upstream of the Muklung River at 59_ 11.03' N. lat., 158_ 32.82' W. long. to a point on the east shore of the Wood River upstream of the Muklung River at 59_ 11.08' N. lat., 158_ 32.48' W. long. and upstream to a line from a point on the west shore of the Wood River downstream of Silver Salmon Creek at 59_ 12.26' N. lat., 158_ 33.34' W. long. to a point on the east shore of the Wood River downstream of Silver Salmon Creek at 59_ 12.20' N. lat., 158_ 33.12' W. long.  
	(c)  The commissioner may open, by emergency order, the Wood River Special Harvest Area  
		(1) when the department projects that the sockeye salmon escapement into the Wood River will exceed 700,000 fish and as follows:  
			(A) if the preseason forecast for the Nushagak River sockeye salmon run is at least 1,000,000 fish, the department shall manage the Nushagak District to exceed a minimum sustainable escapement goal of 370,000 sockeye salmon to the Nushagak River, and the commissioner may open the Wood River Special Harvest Area only when department projections indicate the Nushagak River sockeye salmon escapement will be less than 370,000 fish;  
			(B) if the preseason forecast for the Nushagak River sockeye salmon run is less than 1,000,000 fish and the ratio of Wood River to Nushagak River sockeye salmon is projected to be greater than three to one, the department shall manage the Nushagak District for an optimal escapement goal of at least 260,000 sockeye salmon to the Nushagak River, and the commissioner may open the Wood River Special Harvest Area only when department projections indicate the Nushagak River sockeye salmon escapement will be less than 260,000 fish;  
			(C) if the inseason forecast prepared by the department during the first week of July for the Nushagak River sockeye salmon run is at least 1,000,000 fish, the department shall manage the Nushagak District to exceed a minimum sustainable escapement goal of 370,000 sockeye salmon to the Nushagak River, and the commissioner may open the Wood River Special Harvest Area only when department projections indicate the Nushagak River sockeye salmon escapement will be less than 370,000 fish;  
			(D) if the inseason forecast prepared by the department during the first week of July for the Nushagak River sockeye salmon run is less than 1,000,000 fish, the department shall manage the Nushagak District for an optimal escapement goal of at least 260,000 sockeye salmon to the Nushagak River, and the commissioner may open the Wood River Special Harvest Area only when department projections indicate the Nushagak River sockeye salmon escapement will be less than 260,000 fish;  
		(2) when the escapement goal for Wood River sockeye salmon has been achieved and commercial fishing in the Nushagak Section of the Nushagak District is closed to conserve coho salmon in the Nushagak River as specified in 5 AAC 06.368(d);  
		(3) when the escapement of sockeye salmon into the Wood River exceeds 1,100,000 fish and the escapement is projected to exceed 1,400,000 fish;  
		(4) when the Nushagak District is open and restricted to a maximum gillnet mesh size of four and three-quarters inches for the conservation of Nushagak River sockeye salmon under 5 AAC 06.367(e), and to control escapement of sockeye salmon into the Wood River.  
	(d)  When the Wood River Special Harvest Area is open under this section, the following apply within the open waters:  
		(1) set gillnets may be operated only as follows:  
			(A) a set gillnet may not exceed 25 fathoms in length;  
			(B) a set gillnet may not be set or operated within 150 feet of another set gillnet;  
			(C) all gear associated with set gillnet fishing must be removed when it is not being used to fish in the Wood River Special Harvest Area;  
			(D) set gillnet running lines may not be in the water during a drift gillnet fishing period;  
		(2) drift gillnets may be operated only as follows:  
			(A) no more than 75 fathoms of drift gillnet may be used to take salmon;  
			(B) a person may not have more than 200 fathoms of drift gillnet on board a vessel;  
		(3) notwithstanding 5 AAC 39.240, a person operating a commercial salmon fishing vessel in the Wood River Sockeye Salmon Special Harvest Area may carry additional drift or set gillnet gear on board the fishing vessel if the additional gear is stored in a net bag or in a brailer bag; for the purposes of this paragraph, "brailer bag" means a bag-shaped net on board a drift gillnet vessel used to lift fish from the hold of the vessel into a tender vessel, processing vessel, or processing facility;  
		(4) except as specified in (5) of this subsection, when the Wood River Special Harvest Area is open, the drift gillnet and set gillnet fisheries will open separately, with a seasonal ratio of three drift gillnet gear fishing periods to every one set gillnet fishing period;  
		(5) when the Wood River Special Harvest Area is open under (c)(3) of this section, the Wood River Special Harvest Area will be only open for the gear group that is behind in the allocation specified in 5 AAC 06.367(b) for the Nushagak District.  
	(e)  The commercial salmon fishery in the Wood River Special Harvest Area may be opened only during closures of the subsistence salmon fisheries within the Wood River Special Harvest Area.  

Authorities

16.05.060;16.05.251

Notes

Authority

AS 16.05.060 AS 16.05.251

History

Eff. 5/24/96, Register 138; am 5/14/98, Register 146; am 6/23/99, Register 150; am 6/22/2001, Register 158; am 12/29/2002, Register 164; am 4/9/2010, Register 194; am 4/4/2013, Register 206; am 6/26/2016, Register 218