Alaska Administrative Code › Title 5 - Fish and Game › Part 2 - Sport Fishing and Personal Use Fishery › Chapter 77 - Personal Use Fishery › Article 12 - Prince William Sound Area › 5 AAC 77.591 - Copper River Personal Use Dip Net Salmon Fishery Management Plan

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) Salmon may
				  be taken in the Chitina Subdistrict only under the authority of a Chitina
				  Subdistrict personal use salmon fishing permit. Only one Chitina Subdistrict
				  personal use salmon fishing permit may be issued to a household per calendar
				  year. A household may not be issued both a Copper River subsistence salmon
				  fishing permit and a Chitina Subdistrict personal use salmon fishing
				  permit.
(b) Salmon may be taken
				  from June 7 through September 30. The commissioner shall establish a preseason
				  schedule, including fishing times, for the period June 7 through August 31
				  based on daily projected sonar counts at the sonar counter located near Miles
				  Lake. This abundance-based preseason schedule will distribute the harvest
				  throughout the season. The commissioner may close, by an emergency order
				  effective June 7, the Chitina Subdistrict personal use salmon fishing season
				  and shall reopen the season, by emergency order, on or before June 15 depending
				  on the run strength and timing of the sockeye salmon run. Adjustments shall be
				  made to the preseason schedule based on actual sonar counts compared to
				  projected counts. If the actual sonar count at Miles Lake is more than the
				  projected sonar count, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the
				  season and immediately reopen it during which additional fishing times will be
				  allowed. If the actual sonar count at Miles Lake is less than the projected
				  sonar count, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the season and
				  immediately reopen it during which fishing times will be reduced by a
				  corresponding amount of time.
(c)
				  Salmon may be taken only with dip nets.
(d) A personal use salmon fishing permit
				  holder shall record all harvested salmon on the permit before concealing the
				  salmon from plain view or transporting the salmon from the fishing site.
				  Permits must be returned to the department and the conditions specified in
				  5 AAC 77.015(c) must be met. For the
				  purposes of this subsection, "fishing site" means the location where the salmon
				  is removed from the water and becomes part of the permit holder's bag
				  limit.
(e) The total annual limit
				  for each personal use salmon fishing permit is 25 salmon for the head of
				  household and 10 salmon for each dependent of the permit holder, except that
				  only one king salmon may be retained per household.
(f) The maximum harvest level for the Chitina
				  Subdistrict personal use salmon fishery is 100,000 - 150,000 salmon, not
				  including any salmon in excess of the inriver goal or salmon taken after August
				  31.
(g) Rainbow or steelhead trout
				  incidentally taken may not be retained and must be released immediately and
				  returned to the water unharmed.
(h)
				  For the purposes of this section, the Chitina Subdistrict consists of all
				  waters of the mainstem Copper River from the downstream edge of the
				  Chitina-McCarthy Road Bridge downstream to an east-west line crossing the
				  Copper River as designated by ADF& G regulatory markers located
				  approximately 200 yards upstream of Haley Creek.
Authority:
AS
						16.05.060
AS
						16.05.251