2024 Public Hearing to Discuss Fall Season Subsistence Fishery Temporary Special Actions for the Yukon Area

For Immediate Release:                                                    Contact: Holly Carroll
July 12, 2024                                                                        (907) 351-3029
                                                                                                 holly_carroll@fws.gov

The USFWS Federal inseason manager is offering a public hearing to discuss proposed fall season management strategy options which may include temporary special actions. Please call in to get information and share your comments or concerns at our upcoming public hearing. See below for a summary of planned management actions. The planned actions are very similar to those taken in fall season 2023 and are planned in coordination with Alaska Department of Fish and Game managers, the Yukon River Regional Advisory Council Chairs, and the Office of Subsistence Management

PUBLIC HEARING BY TELECONFERENCE:
Wednesday, July 31, 2023, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Or until conclusion of public comments).
833-436-1163 Passcode: 571-396-562#
You can also join via a Microsoft Teams link by clicking here:
Join the meeting now
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact Holly Carroll, Yukon River in-season fisheries manager at (907) 351-3029, holly_carroll@fws.gov or Jill Klein, USFWS Regional Subsistence Coordinator at jill_klein@fws.gov or 907-231-0019 with any questions.

PROPOSED FEDERAL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS FOR FALL SEASON:
• The season will begin with salmon fishing for fall Chum and Coho salmon closed once fall chum are expected to arrive in each district. Subsistence fishing restrictions may be in place until October 1 in the Lower Yukon and this date will be transitioned upriver to fishing districts based on Salmon migration timing. Important fall Chum spawning tributaries may remain closed through December (Koyukuk, Teedriinjik, Porcupine, and District 6 tributaries of Tanana River). Closures of this length would require a Temporary Special Action.
• If a harvestable surplus becomes available, opportunities to subsistence fish for fall Chum and Coho salmon with selective gear may be allowed (hook and line, dip nets, beach seines, and manned fish wheels). These opportunities would be limited to federally qualified subsistence users in Federal public waters.                • Opportunity to fish for fall Chum and Coho salmon with gillnets may be allowed in Alaskan tributaries, depending on run strength and whether drainage wide escapement goals have been met. These opportunities would be limited to federally qualified subsistence users in Federal public waters.
• In the unlikely event that the fall Chum and Coho runs are large enough to meet all escapement goals and to allow unrestricted subsistence fishing, and there were no longer restrictions in place for other Salmon species, then fishing would no longer be restricted to only federally qualified subsistence users in Federal public waters.

Background: The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) received special action request FSA24-01 asking the Board to close Federal public waters of the Yukon River drainage to the harvest of Chinook, Chum, and Coho salmon except by federally qualified subsistence users from June 1 through September 30, 2024, and to require that Federal subsistence fishing schedules, openings, closures, and methods be determined by the Federal Fisheries Manager. The Board approved FSA24-01 on April 15, 2024, because the closure was necessary for the conservation of salmon populations in Federal public waters. It also provides a priority for subsistence uses as required by Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
 

2024 Fall Season Outlooks:
• The fall chum salmon preseason projection, based on the relationship between summer chum salmon and fall chum salmon runs, is for a run size of 405,000 fish. While the run projection is within the drainagewide escapement goal of 300,000–600,000 chum salmon, there is much uncertainty in the current projection due to lower than expected abundance of age 4 summer chum, (something that could affect inseason fall chum abundance). Furthermore, in recent years, the poorer than average Canadian component of the fall chum run has meant that the Border objectives have not been met, even when drainage-wide run abundance has improved.
• The forecast for Coho salmon is for a below average run. Harvest restrictions are likely necessary for this species but will be determined by inseason run abundance.