Anglers on the most heavily used river in the state will be joined by another group of fishermen this year after the Federal Subsistence Board voted to allow subsistence gillnetting on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers.
The board voted after receiving proposals from the Ninilchik Tribal Council asking for a community set gillnet fishery for subsistence users.
While the new fisheries primarily target sockeye salmon -- subsistence users are allowed 4,000 per year in the Cook Inlet -- the potential to harvest other species of fish was an ongoing sticking point in the discussion. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists were concerned about resident species such as Dolly Varden and rainbow trout as well as the beleaguered king salmon runs. While the Ninilchik Tribal Council argued that the gillnets will catch far fewer king salmon than sport and commercial users, state biologists said they were concerned that the new fishery is potentially harmful to conservation efforts on struggling species.
The Federal Subsistence Board operates as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior to regulate federal subsistence. It is made up of the regional directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Forest Service, and three public members appointed by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture. Two of those represent rural subsistence users and one is the Federal Subsistence Board chairman.
Tension between state management and federal management caused frustration among state biologists at the meeting.
Matt Miller, Fish and Game regional fisheries management coordinator for Southcentral Cook Inlet, said state and federal managers have different directives -- and adding gillnetting to a river that had faced severe conservation restrictions from state biologists was frustrating and confusing.
"It's a non-selective gear type in an era of conservation," Miller said. "If you don't say no to gillnets on the Kenai, what will you say no to?"
While the board made amendments to the Kasilof River proposal -- including a requirement that any community set gillnet fishery would need an operational plan before it hit the water -- no caveats were added to the Kenai River proposal.
Kenai River vote 4-3
The Federal Subsistence Board voted 4-3 to allow gillnetting on the Kenai River with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service opposing the move.
The Ninilchik subsistence community will be able to operate one 60-foot long net to take salmon. Users would not be allowed to obstruct more than half of the river's width with stationary fishing gear and, if other subsistence stationary gear is in the water the gillnet would be set at least 200 feet away.
One permit for the Ninilchik subsistence community would be made available. However, board members said managers would also have to consider proposals from the subsistence communities in Cooper Landing and Moose Pass -- meaning that up to three nets could potentially be used in the river.
The permits would be awarded by the federal fishery manager and the Kenai National Wildlife refuge manager.
Fishing will be allowed June 15-Aug. 15 on the Kenai River unless it is closed or otherwise restricted by federal action, and salmon taken in the gillnet fishery would be included in the dipnet, and rod and reel fishery annual harvest limits for the Kenai River.
Subsistence fishing areas on the Kenai River include the Russian River Falls, Kenai River Mile 48 -- just south of Skilak Lake -- and Moose Range Meadows.
Fish and Game Sportfishing Area Management Biologist Robert Begich said he was concerned about the new fishery, both because of its location and its potential to affect state biologists' ability to count and project how many king salmon would make it up the river to spawn.
Subsistence users are limited to a harvest of 1,000 late-run king salmon on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers. The proposed Kenai gillnet locations are upriver from where Fish and Game operates its in-season sonar to count returning salmon.
"We would need their harvest for our projections to be correct," Begich said.
Last year, managers projected that 16,671 chinook salmon escaped upriver. That's about 1,671 fish above the lower end of the river's escapement goal range.
Managers have struggled to meet the king salmon goal on the Kenai River and the fishery has become increasingly restrictive in recent years. In 2014, the Kenai king salmon fishing season began with an unprecedented closure for early-run king salmon, and Fish and Game also used a provision that required anglers to use barbless hooks later in the season -- a first in the state.
Begich said he was also concerned with the idea of a gillnet being used downstream of Skilak Lake because of the variety of species holding in the area in the June-through-August time period.
"Those fish are all in different stages of pre- and post-spawning and when you put a gillnet in the water up there, you're going to catch everything," he said. "It's a non-selective gear type so you're going to be catching spawning-colored reds that you're not going to want to catch, pinks, spawning-colored kings, everything."
Kasilof River setnet
The board voted unanimously in favor of an amended proposal to allow gillnetting on the Kasilof River.
The new regulation will allow for one community setnet in the Kasilof River, aimed primarily at plentiful sockeye salmon runs. Last year, Fish and Game counted nearly 440,000 sockeye in the river.
The Ninilchik Traditional Council's proposal adds a 10-fathom gillnet to the existing rod and reel, dipnet and fish wheel subsistence fisheries available on the river. The council argued that the current dipnet, rod and reel, and fish wheel allowances are not sufficient for subsistence needs. By statute, subsistence is to be given a higher consideration than other fisheries, and the council argued that not allowing the most effective means to fish salmon would break that promise.
"Subsistence fishery is supposed to be the number-one consideration," said Ivan Encelewski, executive director of the Ninilchik Traditional Council. "We're not going to get a $100,000 seine permit just to satisfy our subsistence needs. We (subsistence users) feel like we get the short end of the stick."
Salmon harvested from the gillnet fishery will be included as part of each household's 25-per-household limit for sockeye from the Kasilof.
The federal board amended the time and area available to subsistence gillnetters, limiting fishing to July 1-31.
The Kasilof sockeye and king salmon runs stretch from June 16-Aug. 15, while the silver and pink salmon seasons run June 16-Oct. 31.
The amendments also specified that the permit will be experimental for five years, after which the board will review it.
Before the community net can hit the water, the board also required an operational plan that includes information like mesh size, allocation and location restrictions.
Miller, the Fish and Game regional coordinator, said the addition of the experimental gillnet fishery flies in the face of the opportunities already available to the Ninilchik Traditional Council, such as educational fishing permits. The risk to king salmon isn't worth the gain for the sockeye, he said.
Encelewski argued that millions of sockeyes are already harvested by Cook Inlet commercial and sport fishermen even though rules are in effect to conserve sinking chinook stocks. Taking a few more sockeyes shouldn't harm that effort, he said.
"We're talking 4,000 sockeyes here," said Encelewski. "Conservation gets the priority, not us."
Surprise among users
Some Kenai Peninsula users said they were surprised by the decision.
Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Ricky Gease said commercial and sport fishermen had worked with the Ninilchik Traditional Council on the issue of river gillnets in the past.
"I wonder what changed from the finding from 2007 when they said they didn't want to use gillnets because of the indiscriminate nature and conservation concerns for Dolly Varden, rainbow trout and salmon," Gease said.
But board members said they had a responsibility to consider Cook Inlet subsistence users.
Hydaburg Mayor Tony Christianson, rural representative for the Federal Subsistence Board, said it was the board's job to look at more than the potential economic impact a fishery could have.
"We only have the one thing to look after, and it's the interests of the subsistence community," he said. "I'm here to fight for the people. I'm here to look after their needs, and their need is food, not money."
Reach Rashah McChesney at rashah.mcchesney@peninsulaclarion.com. Used with permission.