Troopers spread the word about red salmon harvest ban

August 12, 2007

By John R. Moses/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Alaska Bureau of Wildlife Enforcement Troopers are going to great lengths this weekend to make fishermen aware of a new restriction on retaining sockeye (red) salmon in Susitna Drainage waters.

The tasty red and green-hued fish went off limits at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Fishers who hook them now must release them. The order is in effect for the rest of the year due to low numbers of sockeye salmon returning to the Susitna River drainage.

Lt. Tory Oleck said sport fishers should be aware by now that they can't keep any reds they catch.

“As we make contact with fishermen we're certainly spreading the word,” Oleck said.

He said no special enforcement teams would go out searching just for sockeye salmon violations, but there will be troopers at fishing sites. The hunting season has also opened, giving troopers more work to do in enforcing game violations.

Apparently, news of the Aug. 7 emergency order didn't get to everyone.

“That's ridiculous,” said Steve Mahay, owner of Mahay's River Boat Service in Talkeetna, about the fishing restriction.

Emergency orders are supposed to come to fishing businesses over the fax, but Mahay said that by Friday afternoon he hadn't seen a notice, nor had his crew at the busy charter office.

“It's kind of sideswiped us,” Mahay said.

In order to release a red salmon, novices at fishing should learn what they look like, wildlife troopers report. Red salmon at this time in their life cycle generally have reddish bodies with greenish or olive-colored heads and tail fins and can have a dark stripe on their sides.

They are distinct from silver salmon, which may lose some of their silvery chrome as they go up rivers but still have some small black spots on their back. Anyone new to the sport can check free state fishing regulation guides found at tackle shops that have the rules for each river, creek and lake. The regulation book also has color illustrations of the many fish in Alaska's waters.

The regulations also spell out bag limits.

Those fishing Montana Creek and some other waters must note that there are plenty of rainbow trout in the water, but retaining them in Montana Creek and many other waters is a crime.

Visit www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/statewide/ reghome.cfm for a map of the state and online regulations for those regions. Clicking on the region will let the user download a portable document file (PDF) of the regulations.

Contact John R. Moses at john.moses-@frontiersman.com or call 352-2270.