Section 5.33.376. District 13: Deep Inlet Terminal Harvest Area Salmon Management Plan.

	(a)  The intent of this management plan is to distribute the harvest of hatchery-produced salmon in the area described in (b) of this section between the purse seine, drift gillnet, and troll fleets.  
	(b)  The department, in consultation with the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA), shall open and close, by emergency order, fishing seasons and periods to manage the waters of Deep Inlet, Aleutkina Bay, and contiguous waters south of a line from a point west of Pirates Cove at 56_ 59.35' N. lat., 135_ 22.63' W. long., to the westernmost tip of Long Island, to the easternmost tip of Long Island, to the westernmost tip of Emgeten Island, to the westernmost tip of Error Island, to the westernmost tip of Berry Island, to the southernmost tip of Berry Island, to the westernmost tip of the southernmost island in the Kutchuma Island group, to the easternmost tip of the southernmost island in the Kutchuma Island group, to the westernmost tip of an unnamed island at 57_ 00.30' N. lat., 135_ 17.67' W. long., to a point on the southern side of the unnamed island at 57_ 00.08' N. lat., 135_ 16.78' W. long., and then to a point on the Baranof Island shore at 56_ 59.93' N. lat., 135_ 16.53' W. long., as follows:  
		(1) salmon may be taken by purse seines and drift gillnets only during periods established by emergency order, as follows:  
			(A) openings for seines and gillnets must be rotated between net gear groups; the department, in consultation with NSRAA, shall close fishing between openings;  
			(B) except as specified in (C) of this paragraph, the time ratio for gillnet openings to seine openings is two to one;  
			(C) for the 2015 - 2017 seasons, from the third Sunday in June through statistical week 30, the time ratio for gillnet openings to seine openings is one to one, except that during the 2016 and 2017 seasons if the postseason preliminary enhanced salmon harvest value data from the previous season indicates the seine gear group is within that group's enhanced salmon allocation percentage range, based on the five-year rolling average as described in 5 AAC 33.364, the time ratio for gillnet openings to seine openings is two to one for the entire season;  
		(2) salmon may be taken by troll gear when the waters described in this subsection are closed to commercial net gear;  
		(3) the commissioner shall close the seasons in the waters described in this subsection to trolling during hatchery cost recovery periods;  
		(4) before July 1, in order to protect local sockeye salmon stocks, the commissioner may, by emergency order, close the fishing season and immediately reopen the fishing season during which the minimum mesh size of a gillnet in the drift gillnet fishery is six inches.  
	(c)  A drift gillnet operated in the terminal harvest area may not exceed 200 fathoms in length.  
	(d)  The waters described in (b) of this section, west of 135_ 20.75' W. long., will be closed to purse seine and drift gillnet gear beginning with the first emergency order of the season through the third Saturday in June.  

Authorities

16.05.060;16.05.251

Notes

Authority

AS 16.05.060 AS 16.05.251

History

Eff. 4/30/91, Register 118; am 4/23/94, Register 130; am 6/28/97, Register 142; am 6/14/2000, Register 154; am 3/11/2001, Register 157; am 5/26/2006, Register 178; am 5/31/2009, Register 190; am 7/13/2012, Register 203; am 5/9/2015, Register 214