Section 5 AAC 21.366 - Northern District King Salmon Management Plan(a) The purpose of this management plan is to ensure an adequate escapement of king salmon into the Northern District drainages and to provide management guidelines to the department. The department shall manage the Northern District king salmon stocks primarily for sport and guided sport uses in order to provide sport and guided sport fishermen with a reasonable opportunity to harvest these salmon over the entire run as measured by the frequency of inriver restrictions. The department shall manage the Northern District for the commercial harvest of king salmon as follows: (1) except as specified in (8) of this section, the season will open for commercial fishing periods with the first fishing period beginning on the first Monday on or after May 25, except when May 25 falls within a closed period, in which case the season opens the next following open period and continues through June 24, unless closed earlier by emergency order;(2) fishing periods are from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Mondays;(3) the harvest may not exceed 4,500 king salmon;(4) set gillnets may not exceed 35 fathoms in length and six inches in mesh size;(5) no CFEC permit holder may operate more than one set gillnet per permit at a time;(6) no set gillnet may be set or operated within 1,200 feet of another set gillnet;(7) no CFEC permit holder may set a gillnet seaward of a set gillnet operated by another CFEC permit holder;(8) from May 25 through June 24, the area from an ADF&G regulatory marker located one mile south of the Theodore River to the Susitna River is open to fishing the second regular Monday period only;(9) if the Theodore, Lewis, or Ivan River is closed to sport fishing, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the area from an ADF&G regulatory marker located one mile south of the Theodore River to the Susitna River to commercial king salmon fishing for the remainder of the fishing periods provided for under this section;(10) if the king salmon sport fishery on the Deshka River as described in 5 AAC 61 is (A) conducted as a no bait fishery, the commissioner shall, by emergency order, reduce the time allowed per commercial set gillnet fishing period provided for in this section to no more than nine hours in duration, or from 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.;(B) conducted as a catch and release fishery, the commissioner shall, by emergency order, reduce the time allowed per fishing period provided for in this section to no more than six hours in duration, or from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.;(C) closed, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the commercial king salmon fishery throughout the Northern District;(11) if the Chuitna River is closed to sport fishing, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the area from a point at the wood chip dock located approximately at 61° 02.77' N. lat., 151° 10.04' W. long., to the Susitna River to commercial king salmon fishing for the remainder of the directed king salmon fishery;(12) if the inseason Deshka River run projection is below the sustainable escapement goal, the commissioner may, by emergency order, close the commercial salmon set gillnet fishery throughout the Northern District.(b) The commissioner may depart from the provisions of the management plan under this section as provided in 5 AAC 21.363(e).Eff. 4/18/86, Register 98; am 5/14/97, Register 142; am 6/13/99, Register 150; am 6/22/2002, Register 162; am 6/11/2005, Register 174; am 6/4/2008, Register 186; em am 5/1/2009 - 8/28/2009, Register 190; am 5/21/2011, Register 198; am 5/18/2014, Register 210, July 2014; am 6/21/2020,Register 234, July 2020; am 6/8/2024, Register 250, July 2024Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251