Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Fishing Announcement No. 17 opens set gillnet fishing in the Kasilof Section of the Upper Subdistrict within 600 feet of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline, from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. Set gillnet fishing will also be opened within 600 feet of the mean high tide mark on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline, in that portion of the Kenai Section north of the latitude of the Blanchard Line (60° 27.10’ N. lat.) and south of the latitude of the ADF&G regulatory marker (60° 30.49’ N. lat.) located south of the Kenai River mouth; i.e., the North Kalifornsky Beach statistical area (244-32) from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.
As announced in UCI Commercial Fishing Announcement No. 4, Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 21.359(e)(3)(B)), when the Kenai River late run king salmon sport fishery is restricted, gear restrictions are in place for all Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishermen from the beginning of the season through July 31, 2021. During this fishing period, legal gear is restricted to no more than two set gillnets per permit that are each not more than 35 fathoms in length and 29 meshes in depth or no more than one set gillnet per permit that is not more than 35 fathoms in length and 45 meshes in depth. As a reminder, any set gillnet that is not more than 29 meshes in depth as part of this restrictive provision must be identified at the end of the gillnet with an attached blue buoy that is not less than nine and one-half inches in diameter. All set gillnets must be 600 feet apart (5 AAC 21.335), and they must be within 600 feet of the mean high tide mark as per this announcement.
This announcement also opens drift gillnetting from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in the Expanded Kenai and Expanded Kasilof sections of the Central District.
As of July 12, the Kasilof River sockeye salmon run is 40% complete based on average run timing and projects a final escapement of more than 505,000 fish. The minimum biological escapement goal (BEG) for Kasilof River sockeye salmon of 140,000 has been achieved. The additional fishing time provided in this announcement is intended to harvest sockeye salmon returning to the Kasilof River, while minimizing harvest of Kenai River king and sockeye salmon.