To protect king salmon, the Alaska Board of Fisheries approved an action plan that places tighter restrictions on commercial fishermen this summer.
The board, which meets every three years to consider regulation proposals, approved reducing open area and fishing time in Lynn Canal.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will close area in northern Chilkat Inlet during the first five weeks of the season. That area will be reduced by about half for the first four weeks of the season. Fishermen will also see reduced area and time in the southern section as well as night closures.
F/V Lori Ann captain Will Prisciandaro attended the meetings in Sitka.
“Personally I think we could have stayed with status quo from last year with the addition of night closures,” Prisciandaro said. “It seems like the restrictions they put on us did the job as far as catching Chilkat fish.”
The gillnet fleet caught ten of the 152 Chilkat king salmon harvested by sport, troll and gillnet fisheries, according to Fish and Game data.
Prisciandaro said he’s happy with the way local Fish and Game biologists worked with the fleet to implement the plan.
“It seems like the department was working with us to get us as much area and time while still allowing for conservation,” he said.
F/V Misty captain Ryan Cook also attended the meetings in Sitka. He said the first two weeks of this summer’s fishery are going to be tight.
“In some spots like around Benjamin Island you can probably kiss a net length goodbye and if the fish show up in any kind of numbers it could look like a mini Bristol Bay,” Cook said. “But I know something has to change for king salmon.”
Similar to Prisciandaro, Cook said the latest regulations aren’t the best precautions to protect king salmon and that he’d like to have seen more restrictions placed on seiners. Cook also agreed that various stakeholders cooperated.
“I’m also glad the BOF listened to us and gave us most of the things we asked for in our amendments,” Cook said.
The board of fish kept a status quo management plan for subsistence and sport fishing. This summer’s restrictions will be similar to last season. The entire Chilkat River will be open June 1 through June 14. The river will close from June 15 to July 31, except for the portion of the river between Haines Highway mile 19 and the Wells Bridge. That section will be open for only four days a week. The Chilkat Inlet will close to subsistence fishing until July 22.
The non-retention of king salmon is also still in effect for sport fishing.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Biologists labeled Chilkat king salmon a stock of concern, a designation that applies when salmon stocks don’t meet historical abundance levels.
During the last five out of six years, king salmon runs have failed to meet the low end of the 1,750 return range, despite increased restrictions on sport, commercial and subsistence fishing regulations, according to Fish and Game data. Fish and Game is projecting a record low return for 2018—1,030 kings compared to the 2,830 average since 2007. In 2017, preliminary estimates were 1,231.