Section 5 AAC 33.370 - District 1: Neets Bay Hatchery Salmon Management Plan(a) The intent of the Board of Fisheries in adopting this management plan is to distribute the harvest of hatchery-produced fall chum and coho salmon in Neets Bay between the purse seine, troll, and drift gillnet fleets. In addition to that goal, the board and the public would like to have a fishery in Neets Bay that produces a quality product that will allow the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) to meet its corporation escapement goal with the least number of fish and provide the highest possible price to the fishermen.(b) The department, in consultation with SSRAA, shall manage Neets Bay east of the longitude of the easternmost tip of Bug Island to the closed waters area at the head of the bay to distribute the harvest of Neets Bay hatchery-produced salmon between the purse seine, troll, and drift gillnet fleets by setting the fishing times for those fleets as follows: (1) salmon may be taken by troll gear only during periods established by emergency order;(2) 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 with a closure of at least 24 hours between openings; after July 4, the first opening will start with the gear group furthest below the gear group's enhanced allocation under 5 AAC 33.364, based on the most recent five-year rolling average data available;(B) a gillnet opening must be no less than 24 hours in duration and a seine opening must be no less than 12 hours in duration, except that after June 20 the time ratio for gillnet openings to seine openings is one to one;(5) from the second Sunday in June through August 1, the area described in (b) of this section shall be expanded to Neets Bay east of the longitude of Chin Point to the closed waters area at the head of the bay.(c) A drift gillnet operated in the harvest area may not exceed 200 fathoms in length.(d) Personal use and sport fishing will be allowed in the harvest area whenever SSRAA is not harvesting salmon for its corporation escapement goal and so long as the personal use and sport fishery do not jeopardize the attainment of that goal.(e) Gear for the personal use fishery is drift gillnets with a maximum length of 50 fathoms. The annual bag and possession limit is 25 salmon.(f) Waters of Neets Bay east of a line between ADF&G regulatory markers located approximately one mile from the head of the bay are closed to commercial, sport, and personal use salmon fishing from June 15 through November 15.(g) Instead of allowing the harvest of hatchery-produced king salmon for cost recovery by the hatchery permit holder, the commissioner may, after consultation with the hatchery operator, by emergency order, open a joint common property and cost recovery assessment fishery for king salmon as specified in AS 16.10.455 to occur only in the waters as described in (b) of this section.Eff. 5/31/85, Register 94; am 4/18/86, Register 98; am 6/25/89, Register 110; am 6/28/97, Register 142; am 7/26/2003, Register 167; am 5/26/2006, Register 178; am 5/31/2009, Register 190; am 7/13/2012, Register 203; am 4/25/2021, Register 238, July 2021Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251
AS 16.10.455