The Board of Fisheries’ main role is to conserve and develop the fishery resources of the state. This involves setting seasons, bag limits, methods and means for the state’s subsistence, commercial, sport, guided sport, and personal use fisheries, and it also involves setting policy and direction for the management of the state’s fishery resources. The board is charged with making allocative decisions.
In February 2024, the Board will meet in Anchorage to revisit regulations for Upper Cook Inlet – including the Kasilof River, the Kenai River, and Mat-Su valley rivers and streams.
Since 1984, KRSA has been a leading advocate for fisheries conservation in Alaska, working diligently to ensure Alaskans’ sport and personal-use fishing rights are protected and the fisheries are healthy for generations to come. This work continues with the proposals KRSA has submitted for the 2024 Upper Cook Inlet meeting. A brief summary of each proposal is listed below, with links to the formal language being presented to the Board.
Proposal 90: Expand weekly time-period “windows” around the weekends where the commercial set gillnet fishery is closed to allow regular pulses of salmon into the river and maximize harvest effort for personal-use and sport anglers.
Proposal 106: Restrict legal set gillnet gear to 29 mesh gillnets when the Upper Subdistrict commercial salmon fishery is open within 600 feet of shore.
Proposal 112: Increase the upper bound of the Kenai River late-run sockeye salmon in river goal range because current data indicates the maximum sustained yield is produced by escapements substantially greater than previously thought.
Proposal 141: Restrict set gillnet gear in the Upper Subdistrict to the use of 29 mesh rather than 45 mesh gillnets even when not operating under paired restrictions.
Proposal 150: Create a Kasilof River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan to ensure an adequate escapement of kings into the Kasilof River.
