Faced with a dwindling harvest and perhaps a dwindling population, a popular black bear hunt in Prince William Sound is operating this spring with new rules designed to curb the kill, especially of sows.
For the first time, the hunt in Game Management Unit 6D is a registration hunt rather than a general hunt. Consequently, hunters must report any black bear they've taken within five days, which allows state biologists such as Charlotte Westing in Cordova to better manage the hunt — and end it if necessary.
Once the limit of 200 bears, or 50 sows, is reached, Westing will close the hunt by emergency order.
"But if this season plays out like the last couple have played out, I don't think we're going to get there," Westing said by phone on Wednesday. "I think we'll be underneath the 200-bear limit, but I especially want to make sure we don't take more females than we should."
Declining population
Bears are notoriously hard to count, and there is no population estimate for Prince William Sound. But many anecdotal accounts suggest the number of black bears in Unit 6D has shrunk — with surviving bears more wary — as hunting pressure grew.
"You would always see bear. I remember counting 12 bear on one stream once," charter boat operator Brad Von Wichman said a year ago. "It's shocking now the absence of them. I think it's overhunting."
Charter colleague Mike Flores of Ninilchik Charters added: "Years ago, typically in the spring we were seeing 35 bears, but now you can count it on one hand. Since 2012, it's been way off. There's a lot of pressure in close to Whittier, without a doubt."
The harvest of Prince William Sound black bears peaked in 2007 when about 600 animals were taken. And in the past 16 years, at least 400 were taken eight times.
"Clearly," Westing said, "they were very abundant when the tunnel was opened (in 2000)."
A turnaround?
Particularly troubling to Westing was the high percentage of sows killed. "In coastal areas we shoot for a take of females no higher than 25 percent," Westing said, but several years saw sows making up about 40 percent of the kill.
However, things appear to be changing. In 2012 and 2013, the black bear kill was 25 and 47 percent, respectively, below 2011. And last year, when the hunting season was closed two weeks early on May 27, sows made up 28 percent of the 101 black bears killed.
That toll is the least since 1980, long before the Whittier Tunnel opened, significantly expanding access — though the early closing also was a factor. "If I extrapolate … we would have had about 169 if the season had played to its full length," Westing said.
Taking sows with cubs is prohibited, and Fish and Game is asking hunters "to avoid harvesting sows altogether and to selectively take mature boars only.
Only two bears have been taken so far, Westing said, but the harvest tends to peak around Memorial Day when Alaskans can combine early season halibut fishing, shrimping and black bear hunting over the long weekend.
"There aren't a lot of things you can go and pursue in the spring," Westing said. "But in Prince William Sound, you can get the boat out, set out some shrimp pots, harvest a black bear.
"Clearly, they were very abundant when the tunnel was opened (in 2000). You could come home with a great weekend to show for yourself."
These days, not so much.
Contact Mike Campbell at mcampbell(at)alaskadispatch.com