Surveys a valuable resource for state

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is the state agency tasked with managing our fish and game resources under the sustained yield principle by the state constitution. One of the many tools the department uses to collect information used in the management of these resources is by surveying a particular user group about their use of a particular resource.

Many of you either have just received or will receive the 2010 Alaska Sport Fishing Survey within the next few days. This voluntary questionnaire, also known as the annual Statewide Harvest Survey, has been sent to something like 20,000 Alaska anglers, both resident and non-resident, to collect information about where and how many each of a species were caught and harvested recreationally from any given fishery throughout the state.

The survey is voluntary and this is the 34th year it has been conducted. The individual information collected is confidential and is only used in a compiled format for management. Quoting from the back page of the survey booklet, “One of the primary goals of Alaska Department of Fish and Game is to provide a diverse mix of recreational fishing opportunities that are of interest to Alaskans and visitors of our state. Your response to this sport fish survey is important, and aids us in providing statewide estimates of participation, catch, and harvest for our fisheries managers. Alaska Department of Fish and Game uses this information to protect and improve recreational fisheries throughout Alaska.”

This particular survey is one of the main tools used by the Sport Fish Division in making important management decisions and is frequently referred to during Board of Fisheries meetings when discussing participation levels and catch rates in any particular sports fishery. If you have received a survey booklet, I encourage you to take the time and fill out the requested information to the best of your memory’s ability.

I’ve been keeping logs of sorts for the past several years of both my wife’s and my fishing activities. I’ve found this information useful when planning timing of trips and as a reference over the years for amounts of and species of fish caught. These logs have been extremely helpful during the two or three years when my “number” came up and I was sent a survey to complete. Keeping a personal log of your hunting and fishing activities will become a “memory aid” in more ways than one as the years go by.

Another tool the department uses to manage our fish and game resources for sustained yield is by regulating the number of animals which can be harvested from a population without damaging that population’s health and continued development. This controlled harvest is accomplished by issuing a limited number of drawing hunt permits for a particular game species in a specified area.

The application period opened November 1.

If you have been participating in this drawing permit application process for the past several years, you will notice some differences with this year’s process. In the past, all applications were done by mail on paper forms. In the last few years, applying online was added as an option to the paper form process. The department plans to shift exclusively to online applications in the very near future. There also used to be two different application periods, depending on the species permit being applied for.

This year several permanent changes have been introduced. First, instead of only a one-month application period twice a year, the period is now two months – November and December. This is now the ONLY open application period for the 2011-12 hunting period. Second, paper applications will only be accepted if postmarked on or before November 30. Only online applications will be accepted during December. Third, party applications can ONLY be submitted online – no paper party applications will be accepted.

When I checked earlier this past week, the paper hunt supplements were not yet available due to a printing holdup related to the unsettled nature of the Nelchina caribou hunt. However, you can find the current supplement online at the ADF&G website. Go to the Division of Game homepage and look for the link to the drawing permit hunt application process.

I haven’t looked in detail at the hunts available yet so I don’t know if there are any new hunts coming up. I did look at the application requirements and, other than those changes listed above, most of the rest looks similar to years’ past. I would highly recommend that you review all of the various hunt application requirements prior to submitting an application so you won’t get “sideways” with the system and have your application rejected or, after receiving a permit, find you can’t comply with the specific hunt requirements.

Probably the single biggest “hang-up” for many successful applicants is complying with the hunter education requirements for the particular permit hunt. Prior to applying for a permit, find out what the education requirements are for that hunt and go sign up for the particular course required at your local Fish and Game office. Better yet, take all the offered hunter education classes whether you draw a permit or not. You’ll be covered for any future application requirements and you just might learn something and have fun in the process!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.