Time to consider 2013 Mat-Su king salmon regulations

At the Oct. 9 and 10 Alaska Board of Fisheries work session in Anchorage, I found an opportunity to talk with Charles Swanton, director of Sport Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The related questions Swanton and I discussed included how would ADF&G forecast the 2013 Mat-Su king salmon fishery, and what would the fishing regulations likely be?

This past fishing season, ADF&G issued an emergency order on May 1 and effective May 15 reducing the king salmon sport fishing annual bag limit from five to two fish on the entire Susitna River drainage. Fishing gear was restricted to one unbaited, single-hook artificial lure on all of the Susitna River drainage, except the Deshka River. In Unit 2 of the drainage, (Susitna River and tributary streams upstream of Deshka River to the mouth of the Talkeetna River) king salmon could only be harvested through June 11 with additional catch-and-release king salmon fishing allowed for the following two Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays only.

A similar emergency order was also issued on May 1 and effective May 15 for Little Susitna River, reducing the annual king salmon limit to two fish, limiting fishing gear to one unbaited, single hook, artificial lure and only allowing harvest of king salmon during Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of each week.

As the 2012 fishing season progressed, with evidence of additional shortages of returning king salmon, ADF&G issued additional emergency orders that:

• closed the Little Susitna River to king salmon fishing on June 15;

• on June 20 closed Deshka River to the use of bait and prohibited king salmon fishing above the ADF&G salmon counting weir;

• and on June 25 closed the entire Susitna River drainage to king salmon fishing.

Although ADF&G managed to attain king salmon spawning escapement goal numbers in Deshka River, Clear Creek, Little Willow Creek and Little Susitna River, minimum king salmon spawning escapements were not met for other Susitna River tributary streams, and as a result of the economic hardships caused by reduced fishing, along with missed spawning escapement goals, Mat-Su Valley king salmon fisheries were included in a federal fishery disaster declaration made for 2012.

To be blunt, 2012 was a low production year for Alaska’s official state fish, and people dependent upon this world-class resource suffered significant hardship both in the Mat-Su Valley and throughout most of the state. Now, back to my discussion with director Swanton: his recommendation was that I might want to tell potential charter fishing guests 2013 Mat-Su Valley king salmon fishing regulations would likely be similar to the 2012 regulations. Considering that Mat-Su king salmon returns have been below average over the past six years, and that an increasing number of Mat-Su streams have failed to reach minimum king salmon spawning escapement levels in the past three years, Swanton’s assessment seems realistic, and perhaps a best-case scenario.

Aside from recent low inriver harvests and spawning escapement trends, there is little new information upon which to base a 2013 abundance forecast for Mat-Su Valley king salmon returns. ADF&G has not yet released the department’s projection for the 2013 Deshka River king salmon return based on weir data gathered during the 2012 season. Since Deshka River is the only Mat-Su stream with a significant history of collected king salmon age-class data, the department uses Deshka data as a rough basis of what to expect for other Mat-Su king salmon returns. Rough estimates for other Mat-Su king salmon returns, based on Deshka River data, lack precision and fall in the categories of below average, average or above average return expectations.

When managing wild salmon fisheries with little data upon which to base management decisions, ADF&G has a policy of following a precautionary approach. To best achieve minimum escapement objectives, the department uses conservative regulations that can sometimes be adjusted in a more liberal fashion, if and when significantly larger harvestable surplus fish can be identified.

Sport fisheries throughout the state of Alaska are often managed on a more conservative basis than commercial fisheries with the thought that sport fisheries depend more heavily on consistent and predictable fishing opportunities. Last-minute or inseason restrictions and closures have large negative impacts on residents and visitors who have made plans and reservations to fish specific locations on specific dates. Travel costs, tackle purchases, food and lodging costs, state licenses and king salmon stamps and charter or guide service reservation costs are all jeopardized by last minute or inseason emergency sport fishing restrictions and closures. Such restrictions and closures also have associated future negative economic impacts as well.

Since our fisheries managers (ADF&G) know about such negative economic impacts, and since ADF&G in the 2012 season went through the process of developing how to deal with shortages of Mat-Su Valley king salmon, and by necessity used last-minute emergency sport fishing changes, and since the state director of sport fisheries has himself acknowledged the likely need for similar regulations during the 2013 season,

Would not the angler and business public be best served if ADF&G announced necessary king salmon regulation changes as soon as possible — rather than delaying that announcement like happened this past summer?

Rep. Mark Neuman has scheduled a 6 p.m. public meeting with ADF&G officials on Nov. 15 at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla to discuss this and other Mat-Su Valley salmon management concerns. Plan to attend and help make a difference.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides (fish4salmon.com) is a Mat-Su Anglers Club member (matsuanglers.org) and member of the Mat-Su Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.