1. (a) The commissioner shall establish, by emergency order, the king salmon sport fish bag and possession limits and other necessary management measures based on the allocation to the sport fishery as set out under 5 AAC 29.060. The bag and possession limits and other management measures established by the commissioner remain in effect until March 31 of the following year.

2. (b) The objectives of the Southeast Alaska King Salmon Management Plan are to

   1. (1) manage the sport fishery to achieve the annual sport allocation of king salmon as set out under 5 AAC 29.060;
   2. (2) establish bag, possession, annual limits, and other regulatory action inseason by emergency order, to increase or decrease harvest opportunity to achieve but not exceed the king salmon allocation to the sport fishery; and
   3. (3) prioritize providing uninterrupted resident harvest opportunity in state waters; if the department projects that inseason regulatory action is required to keep the sport fishery from exceeding the sport fishery allocation, the department shall first reduce bag and annual limits or modify season dates for nonresidents.

3. (c) The bag and possession limits for resident anglers will be established according to the king salmon allocation to the sport fishery as set out under 5 AAC 29.060 as follows:

   1. (1) when the sport allocation is greater than 55,420 fish, the resident bag and possession limit is three king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length;
   2. (2) when the sport allocation is between 34,302 and 55,420 fish, the resident bag and possession limit is two king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length;
   3. (3) when the sport allocation is less than 34,302 fish, the resident bag and possession limit is one king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length; and
   4. (4) from October l through March 31, a resident sport fish angler may use two rods when fishing for king salmon; a person using two rods under this paragraph may only retain salmon.
4. (d) The department shall establish nonresident management measures to achieve approximately 65 percent of the total sport fishery allocation between January 1 - June 30 and the remainder of the total sport allocation between July 1 and December 31 while prioritizing uninterrupted sport fishing opportunity.
5. (e) The commissioner may, by emergency order, establish that the nonresident harvest and annual limits for king salmon under this section do not apply in a hatchery terminal harvest area.
6. (f) A harvest record under 5 AAC 75.006 is required for nonresidents.
7. (g) The commissioner may require reporting as necessary to obtain the information required to implement the management plan under this section.

(Eff. 4/15/94, Register 130; am 5/2/97, Register 142; am 5/25/2000, Register 154; am 6/1/2003, Register 166; em am 4/13/2005 — 8/10/2005, Register 174; em am 5/3/2005 — 8/30/2005, Register 174; am 5/26/2006, Register 178; am 5/1/2008, Register 186; am 5/31/2009, Register 190; am 7/13/2012, Register 203; am 6/17/2018, Register 226; am 6/28/2019, Register 230; am 10/16/2022, Register 244; am 4/28/2024, Register 250; am 6/27/2025, Register 254)

Authority: AS 16.05.060, AS 16.05.251, AS 16.05.270