Alaska Administrative Code › Title 5 - Fish and Game › Part 1 - Commercial and Subsistence Fishing and Private Nonprofit Salmon Hatcheries › Chapter 21 - Cook Inlet Area › Article 3 - Salmon Fishery › 5 AAC 21.365 - Kasilof River Salmon Management Plan

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) This management
				  plan governs the harvest of Kasilof River salmon excess to spawning escapement
				  needs. It is the intent of the Board of Fisheries that Kasilof River salmon be
				  harvested in the fisheries that have historically harvested them, including the
				  methods, means, times, and locations of those fisheries. Openings in the areas
				  historically fished must be consistent with escapement objectives for upper
				  Cook Inlet salmon and with the Upper Cook Inlet Salmon Management Plan
				  (5 AAC 21.363).
(b) Achieving the lower end of the Kenai
				  River sockeye salmon escapement goal shall take priority over not exceeding the
				  upper end of the Kasilof River optimal escapement goal range of 140.000 -
				  370.000 sockeye salmon.
(c) The
				  commercial set gillnet fishery in the Kasilof Section shall be managed as
				  follows:
(1) fishing will be opened as
				  described in
				  5 AAC 21.310(b) (2) for regular weekly
				  fishing periods, as specified in
				  5 AAC 21.320;
(2) from the beginning of the fishing season
				  through July 7,
(A) the commissioner may, by
				  emergency order, open additional fishing periods or extend regular weekly
				  fishing periods to a maximum of 48 hours of additional fishing time per
				  week;
(B) the fishery shall remain
				  closed for at least one continuous 36-hour period per week to begin between
				  7:00 p.m. Thursday and 7:00 a.m. Friday;
(3) beginning July 8, the set gillnet fishery
				  in the Kasilof Section will be managed as specified in
				  5 AAC 21.360(c); in addition to the
				  provisions of
				  5 AAC 21.360(c), the commissioner may,
				  by emergency order, limit fishing during the regular weekly periods and any
				  extra fishing periods to those waters within one-half mile of shore, if the set
				  gillnet fishery in the Kenai and East Forelands Sections are not open for the
				  fishing period; if the commissioner determines that further restrictions are
				  necessary to aid in achieving the lower end of the Kenai River late run sockeye
				  and king salmon escapement goals, the commissioner may, in an emergency order
				  under this paragraph, further restrict fishing to within 600 feet of the high
				  tide mark in the Kasilof Section and is not subject to the time limitations in
				  5 AAC 21.359(e)(3) and
				  5 AAC 21.360;
(4) after July 8, if the Kasilof Section set
				  gillnet fishery is restricted to fishing within the first one-half mile of
				  shore, the commissioner may, by emergency order, open the KRSHA described in
				  (f) of this section to both set and drift gillnet fishing using only one
				  gillnet, for fishing periods not to exceed 48 hours in duration without one
				  period of 24 consecutive hours of closure;
(5) after July 15, if the department
				  determines that the Kenai River late-run sockeye salmon run strength is
				  projected to be less than 2,300,000 fish and the 390,000 optimal escapement
				  goal for the Kasilof River sockeye salmon may be exceeded, the commissioner
				  may, by emergency order, open fishing for an additional 24 hours per week in
				  the Kasilof Section within one-half mile of shore and as specified in
				  5 AAC 21.360(c).