Fishery meeting life

Many people who have fished with me or know me well, realize that I really enjoy new technology in fishing gear, fishing rods, and boats. Most winters I am focussed on making improvements in some or all of those areas before the next fishing season. The quest is attempting to improve, make things work better, or more efficiently before the next open water fishing season — and most years I also guide some ice fishing trips during the winter.

Mat-Su Valley sport salmon fishing options have been declining for so many years and to such a degree, however, that I believe the most important thing I and most other people who fish Mat-Su Valley rivers and streams for ocean-run salmon can do in order to improve Mat-Su fishing opportunities is participate in the regulatory process. For that reason I’ve dedicated more of my time and efforts toward that pursuit starting with submitting fisheries regulation proposals back in April of 2023 for the upcoming February 23 - March 6 Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries Meeting in Anchorage.

I’ve also helped other folks submit proposals and encouraged them to participate in the regulatory process — including writing fishing columns about such opportunities. I recently enjoyed a vacation to Hawaii and took a native cultural saying to heart, “Everyone paddles the canoe.” Everyone working together can make a difference.

I’ve noticed several additional people working together to bring the shortage of salmon migrating into Mat-Su streams, to both federal and state managers and to the National Marine Fishery Service and Alaska Board of Fisheries regulatory groups that set fishery regulations. There is still plenty of work to be done before final regulatory decisions will be made, and it was enlightening to me, when viewing sport fishery harvest data to realize how big a decline we have seen in some of Mat-Su’s largest sport fisheries.

Levels of Sport Harvest Declines

Little Susitna River is a prime example, and here are some Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) harvest figures I reviewed recently concerning two different five year periods: From 2000 - 2004 annual sport fish harvest estimates from Little Susitna River averaged 17,137 coho salmon per year, 2,773 sockeye salmon per year, and 2, 538 king salmon per year. For the most recent five year period (2018 - 2022) average yearly sport salmon harvest estimates from Little Susitna River had declined to 3,612 coho, 156 sockeye, and 69 king salmon. These numbers represent approximately 79% reduction in annual sport coho harvest, 94% reduction in annual sport sockeye harvest, and 97% reduction in annual sport king salmon harvest. Many people are familiar with the dramatic decline in Mat-Su Valley king salmon populations and sport harvests since 2007, however, the gradual and significant level of sport coho salmon harvest declines at Little Susitna River and other Mat-Su Valley locations only provides more concern for how Mat-Su salmon stocks are being managed. This is especially true, since ocean-run coho salmon have for years been the most harvested sport fish species in the Mat-Su Valley.

It Takes Fish To Make Fish

The Matanuska Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission recently completed the 2024 version of this booklet. It shows and discusses a Conservation Corridor established through the middle of Upper Cook Inlet to help a portion of norther- bound salmon migrate past the Central District commercial drift fleet which normally fishes in an area from Anchor Point past Nikiski, along the Kenai Peninsula. The 30-page booklet discusses some of the current challenges to managing salmon headed for the far end of the inlet, lists 6 salmon-oriented goals the Commission has targeted for the upcoming Board of Fisheries meeting / into the future, mentions new and ongoing salmon-related issues needing to be worked through, provides a State of Alaska Constitutional Reference page concerning fisheries management, and will serve as a Commission road map working through Federal Fisheries management and the 2024 Alaska Board of Fisheries process. It Takes Fish to Make Fish 2024 has already been digitally submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service, State legislators representing different portions of the Mat-Su Borough, U.S. Representative Peltola, U.S. Senator Murkowski, U.S. Senator Sullivan, and Governor Dunleavy. In addition glossy copies will be provided to Alaska Board of Fisheries members. An online PDF fie of the booklet is now available for public viewing/printing via a link on the right-side of the Fish and Wildlife Commission web page: https://matsugov.us/boards/fishcommission

Feel welcome to read the Commission’s reference booklet, and consider joining in “Paddling the Canoe,” toward better Mat-Su salmon fishery management.

Fish On!

Local Mat-Su Valley fishing guide, Andy Couch, is a Matanuska -Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission member and also a member of additional groups working to revive stronger salmon runs returning to Mat-Su Valley and other Upper Cook Inlet freshwater drainages.