Section 5.06.369. Togiak District Salmon Management Plan.

	(a)  The department shall manage the commercial salmon fishery in the Togiak District in accordance with the guidelines set out in this management plan. The goal of this plan is to ensure adequate spawning and harvest objectives for sockeye, coho, and king salmon stocks returning to the Togiak District. It is the intent of the Board of Fisheries (board) that Togiak District salmon stocks be harvested in the fisheries that have historically harvested them. The department shall manage the Togiak District salmon stocks in a conservative manner consistent with sustained yield principles and the subsistence priority.  
	(b)  The department shall manage the commercial fishery in the Togiak River Section of the Togiak District to achieve adequate escapement from all segments of the run by spacing openings throughout the run and, to the extent practicable, manage for escapements within the lower or upper portions of escapement goals proportional to the run size based on the preseason forecast and inseason assessment of the run size.  
	(c)  Fishing periods in the Togiak District under this section are as follows:  
		(1) from 9:00 a.m. June 1 to 9:00 a.m. September 30, salmon may be taken in the Togiak District during fishing periods established under 5 AAC 06.320, except that in the Togiak River Section of the Togiak District, from July 1 through July 16, the weekly fishing periods shall be 9:00 a.m. Monday to 9:00 p.m. Saturday;  
		(2) the commissioner may reduce, by emergency order, fishing periods if information sources indicate a lack of spawning escapement; information sources may include such factors as observations by local elders, fish caught and observed in subsistence nets, sonar counts, counting tower counts, creel counts, test fisheries, daily monitoring, and aerial surveys;  
		(3) the commissioner may increase, by emergency order, the fishing periods in the Togiak River Section of the Togiak District by a maximum of 48 hours each week, in addition to the normal weekly schedule, if the commissioner determines that sockeye salmon run strength warrants additional fishing time.  
	(d)  From 9:00 a.m. June 15 to 9:00 a.m. July 15, only gillnets with a mesh size of five and one-half inches or less will be allowed in the Togiak District under this section. If the commissioner determines that the king salmon run strength is adequate to sustain a directed king salmon fishery, the commissioner may close, by emergency order, the commercial salmon fishing season and immediately reopen that season during which there is no mesh size restriction for set gillnets.  

Authorities

16.05.060;16.05.251;16.05.258

Notes

Reference

5 AAC 06.320
5 AAC 06.331

Authority

AS 16.05.060 AS 16.05.251 AS 16.05.258

History

Eff. 5/24/96, Register 138; am 12/1/2004, Register 172; am 4/16/2016, Register 218