Bristol Bay Management Area
Fishing Management
Management
Current management plans for the Bristol Bay Area Management include the following;
Nushagak River King Salmon–Stock Status and Action Plan
In October of 2022, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game recommended Nushagak River king salmon as a stock of management concern and presented an Action Plan at the Bristol Bay area Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) meeting in November 2022. This plan summarized the background of the stock, the basis for recommendation, and the management recommendations made to the board. It also describes the research and monitoring of the stock, and criteria for future delisting. Based on this, the board met in March 2023 and developed 5 AAC 06.391 Nushagak District King Salmon Stock of Concern Management Plan.
Nushagak–Mulchatna King Salmon Management Plan
Management of the subsistence, commercial, and sport fisheries for Nushagak king salmon stocks is governed by the Nushagak–Mulchatna King Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 06.361). The plan was first adopted by the BOF in January 1992 and most recently modified during the 2023 meeting.
Kvichak River Drainage Sockeye Salmon Management Plan
To ensure biological spawning escapement requirements of sockeye salmon into the Kvichak River drainage, the BOF adopted the Kvichak River Drainage Sockeye Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 67.025) during the January 2001 meeting. The impetus for this plan was the poor sockeye salmon runs of 1999 and 2000. This is an inriver plan that addresses sport and subsistence fisheries only.
Southwest Alaska Rainbow Trout Management Plan
In February 1990, the BOF overhauled nearly all regulations for rainbow trout fisheries in the 2 management areas now known as the Bristol Bay Management Area and the Kuskokwim– Goodnews Sport Fish Management Area. The new regulations implemented the Southwest Alaska Rainbow Trout Management Plan without adopting the plan’s language into regulation. However, the BOF recognized the plan as a guiding policy to achieve and maintain a more orderly and comprehensive mix of rainbow trout angling opportunities throughout the 2 areas. The overriding philosophy of the Southwest Alaska Rainbow Trout Management Plan is one of conservative wild stock management. In 1998, the BOF adopted Criteria for Establishing Special Management Areas for Trout (5 AAC 75.013; subsequently amended as 5 AAC 75.210). This regulation embodies most of the original criteria that are still used in the Southwest Alaska Rainbow Trout Management Plan.