By Jessica Edwards
State sportfish biologists last week closed Chilkat Inlet to Chinook
harvest until July 1, a move that prompted the Haines Sportsman’s Association to
cancel its annual king salmon derby.
Fish and Game sportfish biologist Rich Chapell said the projected king
salmon run in the Chilkat River, based on age composition data and marine survival rates
from 2004 to 2007, is approximated at 1,350 large kings, about 500 fewer than the minimum
escapement goal to keep the stock at healthy levels.
"It’s the lowest abundance for Chilkat kings since
mark-recapture studies began in 1991," he said.
In April, Fish and Game announced new restrictions on fishing this
season, based on assessed run strength using fish return data from 1991 to 2007. The
department recently reassessed this year’s projected run, using return data only from
the past three years.
"From 2004 to 2007, there’s been a real downturn in survival.
Using those more recent figures gives us an idea that’s more realistic and more
conservative," Chapell said in an interview. "We’ve been overforecasting by
increasing amounts. The current four years I think reflects the current conditions in the
ocean."
Older kings, particularly, are not surviving, he said. "Survival
rates in the marine environment have plummeted the last four years," Chapell told a
Friday meeting of the Upper Lynn Canal Advisory Committee.
In a May 1 press release, the Department of Fish and Game announced
Chilkat Inlet would be closed to king salmon fishing from May 5 through June 30. Also,
Fish and Game amended a restriction that all fall-harvested kings exceed 48 inches. The
48-inch size minimum now applies only to non-residents and begins July16.
Closing the popular king fishing area north of Seduction Point is a
conservation measure recommended in the Chilkat Inlet King Salmon Management Plan, adopted
by the Board of Fish in 2002, to improve chances of adult king salmon reaching spawning
grounds in low abundance years.
Haines Sportsman’s Association president Kim Larson said
association board members decided May 2 to cancel the annual Haines King Salmon Derby as a
result of the area closure, the first cancellation since the derby was reinstated in 1995
after a seven-year suspension.
Larson said the vast majority of fish turned in to the derby in past
years were caught in Chilkat Inlet. "The most fish we’ve had turned in from the
town side is five," and organizing the derby for so few fish isn’t worth the
trouble.
Board members questioned why May king salmon derbies in Juneau and
Sitka were allowed to continue, while restrictions were placed on Chilkat Inlet fishing.
Chilkat River fish returning from the open ocean would be harvested in those contests,
Larson said. "They should have shut it down region-wide."
That sentiment was echoed at Friday’s advisory committee meeting,
where tackle shop owner Carmen DeFranco said Haines residents should sue the state, in
part because fishermen in Icy Strait and elsewhere still can fish on Chilkat kings.
Residents in the terminal area are being unfairly penalized, he said.
"Make them prove there’s a shortage of fish. I’m sure they won’t be
able to do it."
Advisory committee chair Gary Hess, however, said he supported the
closure. "I can see (the restrictions) because I’d like to be able to see my
grandchildren be able to go out there and catch king salmon. The problem is nowadays we
have too many people. Too many people who all want a part of the resource."
The committee also heard concern from Skagway fishermen that the
closure would push fishermen and Haines charter boats into Taiya Inlet, home of a
hatchery-raised return of king salmon.
Hess reiterated the advisory committee’s position that the king
salmon management plan should be changed to eliminate subsistence fishing in Chilkat Inlet
north of Seduction Point until July 1. Chapell said he and commercial fish biologist Randy
Bachman also would go to Klukwan and ask subsistence fishermen there to restrict their
take of king salmon this year.
The sportsman’s association will consider other fundraising
events, such as a coho salmon derby, to recoup their largest annual fundraiser. Proceeds
from the sale of derby-caught fish benefit local youth and activities and scholarships,
Larson said. The derby raises up to $6,000 annually.
The new Chilkat Inlet restrictions come on the heels of Fish and
Game’s April 8 announcement of a one-fish-per day limit. Amendments to the
restrictions, a result of public comment, were made May 1.
Harvest restrictions were traded from one user group to another in
order to maintain conservation goals, Chapell said.
On May 1, Fish and Game did away with the 48-inch minimum for fish
caught between August 1 and September 30 for residents. Instead, the 48-inch minimum
applies to non-residents from July 16 through September 30.
Current annual limits for non-residents are three kings 28 inches or
greater if caught between January 1 and June 30, two fish 28 inches or greater for the
year if caught between July 1 and July 15, and one king if caught after July 15. Kings
caught by non-residents between July 16 and September 30 must be 48 inches or greater. The
size minimum returns to 28 inches Oct. 1.
Regional charter fishing limits of four lines per vessel were upped May
1 to six lines or equal to the number of fishing clients, also as a result of public
comment on the April 8 restrictions.
Although no restrictions will be imposed on the Chilkat Inlet
subsistence sockeye fishery, which opens June 14, minimizing the number of incidentally
harvested king salmon is crucial, Chapell said. Subsistence regulations prohibit keeping
live kings, and residents should pick nets immediately when they think they might have a
king.
Biologist Randy Bachman, commercial fish division, said subsistence
provisions in the king salmon management plan left subsistence dates and areas unchanged
even in low abundance years.
Typically, subsistence openings for mainstem Chilkat sockeye occur
after the majority of Chilkat king salmon have progressed upstream. Bachman said
subsistence permits would have an attached sheet informing residents of the importance of
releasing king salmon incidentally caught in nets.
The state will encourage residents to target the projected strong
sockeye run in the Chilkoot River, which typically peaks mid-July.
