The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has opened public comment on their five-year statewide sport fish stocking plan.
Stocking Coordinator Andrew Garry in Anchorage says this is an annual process. He detailed what the department is looking for in public comments.
Garry: “Issues that pertain directly to fishermen and the use that they prefer I guess. Things like whether or not a particular lake gets stocked, if they have questions about maybe putting forth a proposal for a new lake that isn’t currently stocked that they would like to see stocked, the type of uses that they are seeing at different lakes and whether or not they’d like to see further enhancement at different areas. Things like that are the most useful responses for a stocking plan.”
The plan open for public comment includes stocking almost 30 Kenai Peninsula lakes with Chinook and coho salmon, grayling, Arctic char, and rainbow trout.
According to the plan, approximately 140,500 Chinook, or king salmon, smolt would be released at the Crooked Creek Hatchery facility in June, 2016.
Four Kenai Peninsula lakes would also be stocked with about 57,220 coho salmon annually.
The public comment period on the proposed plan closes on January 29, 2016.