Norton Sound Subdistrict 5 (Shaktoolik) and Subdistrict 6 (Unalakleet) King Salmon Stock Status and Action Plan, 2013; a Report to the Alaska Board of Fisheries

Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Special Publication No. 12-28, Anchorage

In response to the guidelines established in the Policy for Management of Sustainable Salmon Fisheries (SSFP; 5 AAC 39.222), the Alaska Board of Fisheries (board) classified the Norton Sound Subdistrict 5 (Shaktoolik) and Subdistrict 6 (Unalakleet) king salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha as a stock of concern, specifically a yield concern, at its January 2004 meeting.  An action plan was developed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (department) and acted upon by the board in January 2004.  The SSFP directs the department to assess salmon stocks in areas addressed during the board regulatory cycle to identify stocks of concern and in the case of Norton Sound subdistricts 5 and 6 king salmon, to reassess the stock of concern status.  The board continued the Subdistrict 5 and Subdistrict 6 king salmon classification as a stock of yield concern in 2007, and adopted a king salmon management plan (5 AAC 04.395) in order to increase escapements and restore the stock to historical levels of abundance.  In 2010, the board continued the stock of concern designation and modified the management plan to provide direction for prosecuting commercial chum (O. keta) and pink (O. gorbuscha) salmon fisheries in times of low king salmon abundance.  Escapement goals were achieved in 2007, 2009, and 2010, but only as a result of the subsistence fishing schedule stipulated in the management plan, inriver gillnet mesh size restrictions, and early closures to subsistence and sport fisheries.  Escapement goals were not achieved in 2008 and 2012 despite similar conservation measures; escapement estimates are considered incomplete for 2011.  Given the continued inability to maintain near average yields despite the use of specific management measures, subdistricts 5 and 6 king salmon continue to meet the definition for a stock of yield concern as defined in the SSFP.  Therefore, the department recommends continuing the stock of yield concern classification.  A key challenge to fisheries management is developing strategies to allow commercial fisheries directed on chum and pink salmon while minimizing adverse impacts on reaching king salmon escapement goals and meeting subsistence needs in subdistricts 5 and 6.