This year’s all-gear harvest limit includes a two percent reduction to serve as a buffer to avoid exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions within the treaty, the state agency announced on April 1. The all-gear harvest limit for Southeast Alaska is determined by the Chinook technical committee of the Pacific Salmon Commission. It is based on a forecast of the aggregate abundance of Pacific Coast Chinook salmon stocks subject to management under the Pacific Salmon Treaty as determined by catch per unit effort in the Southeast Alaska early winter troll fishery.
The all-gear harvest is allocated among sport and commercial troll and net fisheries under management plans specified by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, with purse seiners, 4.3 percent of all-gear, getting 5,900 salmon; drift gillnetters, 2.9 percent of all-gear, getting 4,000 salmon; set gillnetters 1,000 salmon. Trollers, get 80 percent or 101,300 fish after net gear is subtracted, and sport anglers are allocated 25,300 fish, or 20 percent, after net gear is subtracted.
The Alaska Board of Fisheries approved action plans for three Chinook salmon stocks of management concern on the Unuk, King Salmon, and Chilkat rivers at the 2018 Southeast and Yakutat finfish meeting. Two of these three stocks did not achieve escapement goals in 2018.
Winter troll fisheries concluded in all waters of Southeast Alaska/Yakutat on March 15. Spring troll fisheries for some districts were set to begin May 1.