[chumbum]

I haven't been able to find much info on this yet, but it looks like ADFG has closed all sportfishing for chinooks in the Kuskokwim and tribs, Kuskokwim Bay tribs (the Kanektok), and the Goodnews...

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/EONR/index.cfm?ADFG=region.R3

http://www.deneki.com/

 

[Jabrowning24]

now if only they would shut down all chinook harvest period for a few years and give them some time, im talking ocean, everything. things are getting rough and I would love to see a full closure for a good period of time, also deal with the bycatch! im talking southcentral too... not trying to say its them not us and start that argument but I think EVERYONE needs to sacrifice for the greater good, i dream of my sons having the epic days catching kings within an hour of anchorage like i did as a kid...

 

[sazan]

In the estuary of the mighty Kuskokwim River there was no any Kings harvest by commercial fishery and they imposed substance restriction too.
Luckily, Natives had an opportunity to get Silvers/Cohos in August as the run was strong.
Because of that Kings run was noticeable better then very low 2013, but just below minimum target.

Chun run on Kuskokwim last year was rather weak, for the fist time in the last decade ( otherwise they were good to great).

The real problem is Chinook ( King) which despite being called King Salmon it is rather fragile fish.

Silvers( Cohos ), on the other hand are like a tank, near indestructible.


A king without a crown: Chinook vulnerable to ocean forces

http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska...t-a-crown-Chinook-vulnerable-to-ocean-forces/

 

[chumbum]

As stated above, the commercial and subsistence are also closed, which I consider a good thing. It's unfair to close one without closing the other (been known to happen). I hope ADFG keeps a close eye on escapements on the Togiak, Kalukuk, and Nushagak too...every AK king run, I guess. Everyone should get to swing flies for big kings at some point in their life. Too great a sportfish to lose.

As an AK guide, I'm torn by complete closures of sportfishing. Wouldn't catch and release regulations suffice? Especially with regs to help keep mortality low (all kings remain in water, single hook barbless artificials, etc). Some outfitters are going to target kings anyway, and just claim to be targeting chums or reds.

 

[ifsteve]

The problem is that its just about impossible to enforce a sportfishing closure unless you close an entire body of water. Closing it for one species but still having an open season for other species is dumb. How do you PROVE an angler is targeting one and not the other.

Example- They have (or had I don't know if its still that way) a sport fishing closure for striped bass in the Exclusive Ecconomic Zone off the coast of Mass. But you could still fish for tuna, blues, and sharks. The enforcement guys were supposed to check your gear and somehow determine that you were not targeting stripers.

Joke. Reality is they couldn't really enforce unless you kept a striper.

 

[roballen]

Harvest based fisheries management has to be done away with...

time to get serious.. no more moving, shortening and monitoring seasons..

just shut the industry down.. the only thing our fish stocks can withstand is catch and release sport angling some of them not even that.

 

[chumbum]

I personally would love to see C&R on chinooks statewide...but in sportfishing there's still very much a meat camp mentality with kings, and they get top dollar commercially, so......

C&R would allow outfitters to continue operating thru king season, and allow anglers the chance to catch trophy salmon (legally, without pretending to be fishing for chums). Want to take a box of salmon home with you? How about the 200,000 sockeyes running past you?

 

[Copper Caroline]

In the estuary of the mighty Kuskokwim River there was no any Kings harvest by commercial fishery and they imposed substance restriction too.
Luckily, Natives had an opportunity to get Silvers/Cohos in August as the run was strong.
Because of that Kings run was noticeable better then very low 2013, but just below minimum target.

Chun run on Kuskokwim last year was rather weak, for the fist time in the last decade ( otherwise they were good to great).

The real problem is Chinook ( King) which despite being called King Salmon it is rather fragile fish.

Silvers( Cohos ), on the other hand are like a tank, near indestructible.


A king without a crown: Chinook vulnerable to ocean forces

http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska...t-a-crown-Chinook-vulnerable-to-ocean-forces/

Sorry, but that line is just flat wrong. Silvers are very delicate fish and often die when mishandled even a little bit. ADF&G has even made it illegal to remove them from the water if they are not be kept. And their numbers at various times in various systems have been hugely reduced due to fishing pressure.

One of the worst things that happened to AK commercial salmon fishermen was the Exxon Valdez spill. But not because they lost a season, but because it showed how ridiculous the "over-escapement" claims are. Five years after the spill they caught the first two 20+ pound fish ever in the Seward silver salmon derby and the run was huge. Five years later they caught two more 20+ which are the only four such fish ever caught in the derby.

 

[sazan]

I was quoted the article which compared Kings and Silvers only.
Any fish intended for C&R , should not be removed from the water and handled like a few days old baby.