North Cape Fisheries Consulting

List of Source Documents and Web References

Introduction/overview

Harvest records for salmon fisheries in Alaska date back well over 100 years. All five Pacific salmon species are harvested in diverse coastal and within river fisheries. After statehood, in 1959, actively managed salmon programs were established. Rich data sets, generated from decades of monitoring, are now employed into abundance based, escapement driven management programs that are viewed internationally as an example of sustainable fisheries management. In 2000, Alaska salmon became the only salmon fishery worldwide certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Factors contributing to the success of the Alaska salmon management program include: 1.) a strong sustained yield principle that places escapement as the highest management priority, 2.) on site biologists have authority to make timely decisions to open and close fisheries in response to real-time escapement and fishery performance data , and 3.) there is an open public regulatory process (the Board of Fisheries) that facilitates resolution of allocation disputes and development of complex management plans.

Who Are the Regulatory Authorities in Alaska Salmon Fisheries?

The State of Alaska. While commercial harvest records for Alaska salmon date back to the 1870's, the state of Alaska has had responsibility for salmon management since statehood in1959. Natural resource management authority and principles are framed in Alaska's state constitution which directs that salmon populations be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle.

Article VIII. Natural Resources. Section 4. Fish, forests, wildlife, grasslands, and all other replenishable resources belonging to the State shall be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle,….

The principal fisheries resource management agency is the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). ADF&G is the science based arm of the state government that conducts stock assessment, monitoring and research programs as well as implements the management actions consistent with the sustained yield directive. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is charged with enforcement of fish and wildlife laws and regulations. Two other state bodies that are vital to the salmon management program are the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), charged with licensing, and the Board of Fisheries (BOF), which is charged with adopting regulations and resolving allocation disputes.

The function & structure of ADF&G. Alaska statutes, under Title 16, define the role and structure of ADF&G, as well as the authority given to the commissioner of ADF&G. The commissioner's role is to "manage, protect, maintain, improve, and extend the fish, game and aquatic plant resources of the state in the interest of the economy and general well-being of the state." (AS 16. 05.020. 2). To discharge this responsibility, the commissioner is given broad authority to open or close fishing periods and modify fishing areas by emergency orders. (AS 16.05.060. Emergency Orders). It is the long standing policy of ADF&G for the commissioner to delegate Emergency Order (EO) authority down the supervisory chain to the level of the field biologists in charge of each specific fishery. Such biologists are commonly called Area Management Biologists. The jurisdiction of the Area Management Biologist's authority generally conforms to one or more of the 20 management areas that are set up for the licensing of commercial fisheries by CFEC. The Area Management Biologist has full authority to issue Emergency Orders any time that he or she feels is necessary and biologically justified or to conform to allocation directives outlined in regulatory management plans adopted by the Board of Fisheries. Once announced, EO's become effective at the time specified, and have the full force and effect of law. EO's are announced in a manor that best targets the people that will be affected. For example, EO's for commercial fisheries are commonly announced at prescribed times over marine radio frequencies, read on local radio stations, faxed to processors and organizations, emailed to a broad email distribution list, placed on a recorded information telephone hotline, and posted on web sites. A written form of the EO signed by the Area Management Biologist (Appendix A) is mailed to a specified distribution list. The delegation of this authority to the Area Management Biologist level is one of the strengths of the Alaska salmon management program. It gives the people who are most knowledgeable and have the most current information the ability to quickly respond to changing biological and environmental conditions to achieve fishery objectives.

ADF&G has three major divisions that are involved with salmon management. The division of Commercial Fisheries is responsible for issuing the emergency orders necessary for the sustainable management of the state's commercial fisheries. This division oversees a majority of Alaska's salmon stock assessment and research programs. The Commercial Fisheries division also housed the fisheries genetics laboratory and program as well as a pathology laboratory. The Commercial Fisheries division also oversees permitting and oversight of the Private Non-Profit salmon hatchery program.

The Sport Fish Division is responsible for the management of the state's sport and recreational fisheries. The Sport Fish Division shares in the assessment of salmon stocks for which there are recreational fisheries, primarily coho and Chinook salmon. The Sport Fish Division oversees the only state operated hatcheries.

A third division of ADF&G, the Subsistence Division, collects data and monitors cultural and traditional use patterns for indigenous populations. The Subsistence Division does not have management authority, thus management actions (EO's) for subsistence fisheries are taken by either the Commercial or Sport divisions.

A former division of ADF&G dedicated to overseeing habitat protection, compliance with habitat laws and permitting, was recently moved to the State's Department of Natural Resources.

The Department of Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is the state's law enforcement agency charged with providing functions relative to the protection of life, property and wildlife resources. Alaska separated the functions of biology conducted by ADF&G from the function of law enforcement which is conducted by DPS. DPS law enforcement officers work collaboratively with ADF&G biologists to ensure compliance with fishing laws, regulations and emergency orders. DPS employs a variety of vessels and surveillance aircraft in their coverage of Alaska's coastal and river fisheries. Techniques such as stakeouts, video surveillance, random vessel boarding's, and under cover sting operations have all been used to curtail the practice of illegal fishing.

The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) is an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory agency responsible for promoting the sustained yield management of Alaska's fishery resources and the economic health and stability of commercial fishing by regulating entry into the fisheries in the public interest.

After banning fish traps in 1959, the new State of Alaska struggled with a continuing increase in the number of fishery participants using mobile gear such as gill nets and purse seines. When runs declined in the 1960s, this became a crisis, for individual fishermen who could no longer make a living. Legislative attempts to address this failed, until 1972 when the Alaska Constitution was amended to give the State the power to limit entry into any fishery for the purpose of conservation or to prevent economic distress. In May 1973 the state legislature adopted the Limited Entry Act, establishing the CFEC. Salmon fisheries throughout the state were the first fisheries limited by the CFEC. Salmon fishing permits are issued to individuals, not corporations or vessels. The total number of permits for each fishery is strictly limited. These permits are fully transferable.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries. The Board of Fisheries (BOF) is a seven member regulatory body whose role is to conserve and develop the fishery resources of the state. The BOF has authority to adopt, repeal or amend regulations in the portions of Alaska Administrative Code that pertain to the state's subsistence, commercial, sport, guided sport, and personal use fisheries (5 AAC 01. - 5 AAC 99). A major function of the Board is to make allocative decisions dividing salmon resources among various resource user groups. The Board also establishes regulatory management plans which may or may address salmon allocation. Regulations for each management area are opened for revision and review by the Board on a three year rotating cycle. During the call for proposals, any individual, user group or organization may submit proposals for regulatory changes. The Board hears oral testimony, reads written testimony, and reviews background and analysis provided by ADF&G. When addressing complex issues, the Board may form a sub-committee comprised of two or three Board members charged with fact finding and analysis of the issue. The Board sub-committee may appoint a panel of stake-holders representing competing interests to negotiate compromise positions on issues. The Board sub-committee then reports back to the full Board for formal deliberations and final regulatory action.

The Board process is a unique example of stewardship which gives stake-holders a strong voice in the manner in which their fishery is conducted.

Federal Subsistence Management in Alaska. In 1980 Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which resolved issues around native lands, established national parks and refuges, and opened a corridor for development of oil reserves. Title VIII of this act identified subsistence use priorities for "rural residents" of Alaska. While the state of Alaska has long recognized a priority for subsistence uses, the "common use" clause in the state's constitution prohibits excluding "non-rural" residents from subsistence uses. This conflict has been highly debated throughout Alaska and in the courts, but remains unresolved. As a consequence of the state's failure to comply with Title VIII, federal agencies took over management of subsistence fisheries on federal lands in 1999. A multi-agency Office of Subsistence Management (OSM) now operates in Alaska to oversee this program. Federal subsistence regulations, identical to the pre-existing state subsistence regulations, were initially adopted for the new federal subsistence fisheries. A Federal Subsistence Board, analogous to the BOF, acts as the regulatory board for the federal subsistence fisheries. As time passes and the two boards operate independently, federal regulations are diverging from state regulations. In a majority of Alaska's salmon fisheries, the federal subsistence harvest amounts to a small fraction of the overall utilization. However, in some western Alaska fisheries such as the Yukon River, subsistence harvests amount to a large portion of the total utilization. Consequently, the dual management authority of state and federal agencies requires a good deal of coordination. Dual management has added significantly to the complexity of the management of these fisheries, and been the source of confusion among subsistence users.

What are the general management models for various fisheries?

Commercial Fishing. The commercial fisheries of Alaska account for the vast majority of the total salmon harvest. More people are employed in the commercial fishing industry than any other industry sector in Alaska. Commercial fisheries exist throughout most of Alaska's coastal communities and, in many cases, commercial fishing drives the local economy. Salmon account for 20% of the overall ex-vessel value of commercial landings in Alaska. Salmon are harvested by 7 commercial gear types: purse seine, beach seine, drift gill net, set gill net, hand troll, power troll, and fish wheel. All of Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries are limited to a maximum number of permit holders by the CFEC. There are 12,700 limited entry salmon permits in Alaska. Each permit is specific to one of 15 management areas, and one of the 7 commercial gear types (Table 1.). For example, a commercial salmon fisherman who operates a drift gill net in Bristol Bay would have to have a CFEC permit specifying salmon fishing, in Bristol Bay (Area T) with drift gill net. This permit holder would be able to operate this gear type during open commercial fishing periods in Bristol Bay and its' respective districts, subject to other commercial fishing regulations.

Table 1. Alaska limited entry salmon permits by regulatory management area and gear type. (From 2002 CFEC Annual Report.)

Management Area	Code	Purse seine	Beach Seine	Drift Gillnet	Set Gillnet	Hand Troll	Power Troll	Fish Wheel
Southeast Alaska	A	419	-	479	-	-	-	-
Statewide	B	-	-	-	-	2,163	972	-
Yakutat	D	-	-	-	173	-	-	-
Prince William Sound	E	267	-	540	30	-	-	-
Atka/Amila Is	F	-	-	-	2	-	-	-
Cook Inlet	H	84	-	574	746	-	-	-
Kodiak	K	384	36	-	188	-	-	-
Chignik	L	100	-	-	-	-	-	-
Alaska Peninsula	M	122	-	161	115	-	-	-
Upper Yukon	P	-	-	-	75	-	-	165
Bristol Bay	T	-	-	1,877	1,041	-	-	-
Kuskokwim/Goodnews Bay	W	-	-	-	841	-	-	-
Kotzebue	X	-	-	-	220	-	-	-
Lower Yukon	Y	-	-	-	713	-	-	-
Norton Sound	Z	-	-	-	205	-	-	-
Total Salmon Permits		1,376	36	3,631	4,349	2,163	972	165

Total Alaska Salmon Permits		12,692

The processing sector is also a vital component of the commercial fishery. Shore based processing plants provide employment for many costal communities. Commercial fishermen sell their catch to companies that process it into canned, headed & gutted fresh, headed & gutted frozen, shrink wrapped frozen filets, smoked and other products. Processors often employ a fleet of "tenders", vessels that buy salmon from commercial boats on the fishing grounds and deliver them to shore based processing plants. In the face of declining markets, preservation of product quality is vitally important to Alaska's salmon fisheries. Quality is a function of both management and handling. With the exception of fisheries that depend on roe recoveries to drive up value (mostly chum fisheries), the highest intrinsic quality is obtained by harvesting strategies that take ocean bright salmon soon after they arrive in the fishing districts. ADF&G managers must balance this with the biological demands of the fishery. Fishermen, tender operators and processors share in the responsibility to preserve quality once salmon are harvested. They endeavor to preserve quality by chilling fish immediately after harvest, minimizing bruising from poor handling, minimizing the time required to transport product to processing plants, and maintaining adequate capacity to handle daily volume.

ADF&G Commercial Fisheries staff operate on-site management offices and field projects to monitor and regulate commercial fisheries. Area management staff issue emergency orders to open or close fishing districts as required to achieve escapement goals and other objectives directed by regulatory management plans. A research component of the staff provides daily analysis of run entry, stock composition, projections of run size, escapement performance and other biological factors that go into management decisions.

Sport Fishing. Each year between 400,000 and 450,000 anglers participate in sport fisheries throughout Alaska, harvesting over a million salmon annually (harvested fish are lethally taken). Alaska's reputation for trophy salmon fishing draws anglers from all over the world. These visitors contribute to the economies of many small Alaska communities. Fishing lodges, boat rentals, air taxi services, and guide services all benefit from and cater to the sport fishing industry. Anyone can obtain a license to sport fish in Alaska. Area or drainage specific regulations specify bag limits, methods, means and other restrictions. Sport fishing activity is concentrated near the population centers or Alaska's road system. In the Anchorage basin and the Kenai Peninsula (waters of Cook Inlet), sport fishing is the largest harvester of coho salmon. Complex management plans have been developed by the BOF defining an allocation structure in Cook Inlet which provides Chinook and coho salmon to the sport fishery, while sockeye salmon are taken primarily in the commercial fishery.

Sport fish managers have emergency order authority to close fisheries, adjust bag limits and to establish "catch and release" as a measure to reduce lethal take.
Table 2. Harvest (lethal take) of salmon by Alaska's sport fishery, 1996-1999.

Table 2. Harvest (lethal take) of salmon by Alaska's sport fishery, 1996-1999.

	1999	1998	1997	1996
Chinook	184,296	144,098	185,175	163,569
Coho	632,829	501,935	444,525	555,196
Sockeye	377,483	339,385	318,839	319,174
Pink	177,295	145,589	111,671	167,804
Chum	24,944	33,725	31,348	38,565
Total	1,396,847	1,164,732	1,091,558	1,244,308

Personal Use Fishing. Personal Use fisheries provide Alaskan residents an opportunity to harvest fish for personal or household consumption, employing gear types such as gill nets, fish wheels and dip nets. The personal use category was established to provide the opportunity for Alaskans who were precluded from customary and traditional subsistence fisheries to efficiently harvest fish for personal consumption. For example, the Kenai River is in a "non-subsistence" area by state regulations due to the urban population levels. This designation, made by the BOF, precludes subsistence fisheries. However, a personal use dip net fishery was established to provide fish for personal consumption.

Subsistence Fishing. Alaska regulations provide for state managed subsistence fisheries throughout most of the state. The BOF establishes fisheries to meet subsistence needs based on a history of customary and tradition uses, following eight criteria specified in state law. Subsistence fishing is precluded around population centers. Subsistence uses have priority over all other uses. Thus commercial, sport and personal use fisheries must be closed before a subsistence fishery is restricted. In western Alaskan fisheries, the subsistence take comprises a majority of the overall harvest.

Federal subsistence fisheries operate in parallel or tandem to state managed subsistence fisheries. Federal subsistence management applies to federal lands such as National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.

What are key policies and guides for Salmon Management?

Sustainable Salmon Fishery Policy. In 2000, after years of debate and considerable effort, the BOF adopted into regulation a policy for the management of sustainable salmon fisheries. (5 AAC 39.222.). This policy strengthened and modernized long standing principles behind the ADF&G salmon management program, made them more visible to the public and provided a more structured approach to addressing conservation issues. The policy identifies three levels of concern; "yield concern", "management concern" and "conservation concern", and prescribes that action plans be developed to address these concerns. A "yield concern" is the least severe and relates to the inability to maintain expected yields. A "management concern" relates to the consistent inability to maintain escapements within the desired range despite the use of management measures over the course of four or five years. A "conservation concern" is the most severe, and relates to the consistent inability, despite management efforts, to maintain escapements above a minimum threshold, below which the stock's ability to sustain itself is jeopardized. The policy recognizes the importance of habitat, ecosystems, genetic diversity and public stewardship to the sustainable management of salmon fisheries.

Escapement Based Management. Under the state's constitution, Alaska's salmon populations are managed for sustained yield. This provided the foundation for Alaska's conservation based salmon management program. Many salmon systems have long time series of harvest and escapement data, providing for rigorous analysis of escapement goals. Where ever possible, salmon populations are managed for a measured escapement goal. Fishery openings are intensively modified by emergency order to; 1. achieve the desired escapement range, and 2. provide escapement throughout the normal timing range. This latter element is employed to maintain diversity. Where escapements are regularly monitored through the season, timing curves are built from historic data. These curves are scaled to the desired escapement range and are used as a target for evaluating escapement performance within the fishing season. (Figure 1.) Harvest rates are restricted or liberalized by emergency order to correct trends that fall below or track above the desired escapement range. Where run timing is compressed and abundance is large, such as the sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, fishery opening decisions may be modified on a tide by tide basis.

Graph of daily salmon passage at the Miles Lake sonar station, Copper River.

Due to the diverse nature of Alaska's salmon stocks and river systems, escapement monitoring programs vary dramatically from fishery to fishery. In the large clear-water rivers of Bristol Bay, it is possible to continuously estimate escapement visually from counting towers. Although these systems have counting and sampling errors (extremely high passage rates may be under estimated, and counts are made for 10 minutes each hour), there is a relatively high level of confidence in the precision of these counts. In Prince William Sound, pink salmon escapement is estimated by weekly aerial surveys from 200 index streams scattered throughout the Sound. Due to the limitations of aerial survey estimates and the weekly vs. hourly sampling frequency, such escapement estimates have a lower precision confidence.

Escapement policy. It is ADF&G's responsibility to establish escapement goals in Alaska. A policy governing salmon escapement goals is published in regulation. (5 AAC 39.223.) The policy provides for different categories of escapement goals based upon the precision, quality and length of the available data. For example, Bristol Bay's, Egegik River system has a counting tower to monitor escapements. There is also good harvest data and age structure data for this system's returns over a long time series. Such data sets support construction of brood tables and a rigorous spawner recruit analysis to estimate an escapement goal range that bracket maximum sustained yield. ADF&G's policy terms such a goal a "biological escapement goal" (BEG). In the Prince William Sound case, the data does not support such a rigorous analysis. However a long time series of aerial escapement monitoring over many life cycles can be correlated with sustainable harvest levels. From these data a goal can be constructed to represent the range of escapements that have sustained a healthy fishery. These goals are termed sustainable escapement goals (SEG).

ADF&G research staff collect data annually to not only monitor escapement within the season, but also to evaluate goals. Harvest statistics, age structure, sex composition, size distribution and genetic stock identification are among the variables employed to partition stocks and reconstruct runs. Available funds, human resources and logistical constraints limit the extent that data on these variables are collected across Alaska. ADF&G programs that have a relationship to the federally managed subsistence fisheries are augmented by federal funds through OSM. Some monitoring programs are also conducted by native tribal groups.

On a three year rotating cycle, ADF&G completes a rigorous analysis of escapement goals around the state. This is generally scheduled to conform to the corresponding management areas regulatory cycle of the BOF. Thus the public and the BOF can be informed of any new escapement goals or modifications to existing goals. The BOF becomes involved in establishing escapement goals when there are allocation issues or other factors involved. The BOF may adopt regulatory management plans directing ADF&G to manage for a goal that differs from the BEG or SEG. Such goals are termed "optimum escapement goals". The Kenai River sockeye salmon goal is an OEG established by the BOF. This goal was set higher than the BEG, due to allocation issues and consideration of the mixed stock and mixed species nature of the fishery.

In some river fisheries, there is a harvest component that is taken upstream of the point where escapement is monitored. In such cases, the harvest component must be added to the BEG to insure that the desired number of spawners reach the spawing grounds. Such goals are termed "in-river goals". The Copper River is an example of a system that has an in-river goal. In the Copper River, escapement is monitored at a sonar station located 30 miles above the commercial fishery. The commercial fishery is managed to achieve an in-river goal as measured by the sonar counter. The in-river goal is designed to deliver the needed fish to the spawning grounds to sustain healthy returns into the future. It also provides for a subsistence fishery, a personal use fishery component, a sport fishery component and a component to an up-river hatchery. This goal is illustrated in Table 3. This complex goal is specified in a regulatory management plan, 05 AAC 24.360. Copper River District Salmon Management Plan.

Table 3. The components of the Copper River in-river salmon goal as measured at the sonar station located at Miles Lake.

Spawning Escapement	300,000 to 500,000 sockeye salmon
Other Salmon	17,500 salmon
Subsistence/Personal Use Harvest	188,000 salmon
Sport Fishery	15,000 salmon
Gulkana Broodstock	20,000 sockeye salmon
Gulkana Hatchery Surplus	11,169 sockeye salmon

Total	551,669 to 751,669 salmon

Harvest Management. Harvests from commercial salmon fisheries are monitored continuously through the fishing season. In most districts salmon buyers (processors) provide ADF&G a verbal estimate of the number of fish that they purchased within 24 hours of a fishing period closure. These verbal reports are compiled by ADF&G harvest monitors to provide area managers with timely harvest estimates. Harvest magnitude, species composition, mean fish weight, and timing are all important indicators contributing to fishery management decisions.

Alaska law requires the processing companies who buy salmon from commercial fishermen to generate a fish ticket (landing receipt) at the time of each landing. Fish tickets are imprinted with the fisherman's CFEC card, the processor's license number, the location and the number and gross weight of each species landed. The commercial fisherman retains a copy of the fish ticket, the processor retains a copy and a copy is provided to ADF&G within a prescribed timeframe. ADF&G inputs fish ticket data into a computer database which can provide information to managers within two to three weeks of the harvest date. The state maintains a historical database of fish ticket records. This database facilitates analysis of historic harvest timing, species composition, mean size, effort and gear efficiency.

ADF&G systematically samples the commercial catch for age, size and sex composition. Age date is obtained from scale sampling. In many fisheries age data aids in identifying stock components in mixed stock fisheries, assisting is management decisions. Sex ratios are also monitored in some fisheries. A predictable shift in sex ratios from predominately males to predominately females is exhibited in pink salmon returns, and can be a useful indicator of the progress of a given return.

Otolith thermal marks are widely used to identify hatchery fish in Alaska. In Prince William Sound all hatchery produced pink and chum salmon have a unique thermal mark that identifies their respective hatchery of origin. Test fishing and commercial pink salmon harvests are analyzed for otolith marks on a weekly basis. The ratio of wild and hatchery pink salmon entering into Prince William Sound is used by managers to regulate the commercial fishery to achieve wild stock escapement goals in the face of large hatchery returns.

The Copper River Fishery as an Illustrative Example