1. (a) Salmon may be taken in the Chitina Subdistrict only under the authority of a Chitina Subdistrict personal use salmon fishing permit. Only one Chitina Subdistrict personal use salmon fishing permit may be issued to a household per calendar year. A household may not be issued both a Copper River subsistence salmon fishing permit and a Chitina Subdistrict personal use salmon fishing permit.
2. (b) Salmon may be taken from June 10 through September 30. The commissioner shall establish a preseason schedule, including fishing times, for the period June 10 through August 31 based on daily projected sonar counts at the sonar counter located near Miles Lake. This abundance-based preseason schedule will distribute the harvest throughout the season. Adjustments shall be made to the preseason schedule based on actual sonar counts compared to projected counts. If the actual sonar count at Miles Lake is more than the projected sonar count, the commissioner shall close the season by emergency order and immediately reopen the season with additional allowable fishing times that correspond to the actual sonar count. If the actual sonar count at Miles Lake is less than the projected sonar count, the commissioner shall close the season by emergency order and immediately reopen the season with reduced allowable fishing times that correspond to the actual sonar count.
3. (c) Salmon may be taken only with dip nets.
4. (d) A personal use salmon fishing permit holder shall record all harvested salmon on the permit before concealing the salmon from plain view or transporting the salmon from the fishing site. Permits must be returned to the department and the conditions specified in 5 AAC 77.015(c) must be met. For the purposes of this subsection, "fishing site" means the location where the salmon is removed from the water and becomes part of the permit holder's bag limit.

5. (e) The total annual limit for each personal use salmon fishing permit is as follows:

   1. (1) 25 salmon for the head of household and 10 salmon for each dependent of the permit holder, except that only one king salmon may be retained per household;
   2. (2) if the commissioner projects that the upper bound of the Copper River drainage sockeye salmon sustainable escapement goal will be exceeded, the commissioner may, by emergency order, close the Chitina Subdistrict personal use dip net salmon fishery season and immediately reopen a season during which the annual limit for sockeye salmon for the head of household is increased; an emergency order issued in accordance with this paragraph may not increase the king salmon annual limit established under paragraph (1) of this subsection or increase the king salmon annual limit specified in 5 AAC 24.361(d).
6. (f) The maximum harvest level for the Chitina Subdistrict personal use salmon fishery is 100,000 - 150,000 salmon, not including any salmon in excess of the inriver goal or salmon taken after August 31.
7. (g) Rainbow or steelhead trout incidentally taken may not be retained and must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed.
8. (h) For the purposes of this section, the Chitina Subdistrict consists of all waters of the mainstem Copper River from the downstream edge of the Chitina-McCarthy Road Bridge downstream to an east-west line crossing the Copper River as designated by ADF&G regulatory markers located approximately 200 yards upstream of Haley Creek.

(Eff. 6/12/2003, Register 166; am 3/24/2012, Register 201; am 3/29/2015, Register 213; am 3/29/2018, Register 225; am 9/19/2019, Register 231; am 6/7/2025, Register 254)

Authority: AS 16.05.060, AS 16.05.251