Executive Summary
In March 2023, the Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted the Nushagak District King Salmon Stock of Concern Management Plan in response to the continued decline of Nushagak River king salmon. The new plan, developed through a five-year, stakeholder-driven process that involved commercial, sport, and subsistence users alongside agency and technical
experts, represents a significant restructuring of management for commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries. The plan is intended to remain in effect as long as Nushagak River king salmon are designated a Stock of Concern.
This report provides an objective evaluation of how the plan has functioned in its first three years (2023–2025), with particular attention to the conservation actions taken, their performance, and alignment with the management objectives and measures of success identified during the committee process.
Key Conservation Actions
The plan introduced three primary changes:
1. Commercial Fishery Start Triggers: New triggers for both the Wood and Nushagak Rivers, delay the start of the commercial salmon fishery and thereby afford king salmon additional protection while the ratio of king salmon to sockeye salmon remains relatively high in the district.
2. Sockeye Salmon Optimal Escapement Goals (OEGs): Larger escapement targets, scaled to sockeye run size, allow the manager to take breaks in sockeye commercial fishing for king salmon conservation and replace the need for prescriptive regulatory changes to time, area and/or gear.
3. Sport Fishery Annual Limit: Reduced harvest opportunity for large king salmon by limiting anglers to one fish ≥28 inches per year. Protecting large, fecund king salmon and safeguarding the reproductive potential of the stock.
Performance of the Plan
• Commercial Fishery:
The plan consistently delayed the start of the commercial fishing season by 2–5 days compared with the prior plan (Table 3). The delay of the start of the commercial fishery due to the new triggers has resulted in 6.5-10.8 thousand additional king salmon and 1.2-1.5 million additional sockeye salmon passing upriver each year before exposure to harvest (Table 3). OEGs allowed longer in-season closure windows, reducing harvest pressure and allowing more king salmon to pass through the district unharvested (Figures 1 & 2; Appendix G). While the exact split in benefits between delayed openings and in-season closures is diIicult to pin down, both mechanisms played a substantial role in conserving king salmon.
• Sport Fishery:
Participation continued a declining trend and regulations further limited harvest of large king salmon.
Management Objectives & Measures of Success
The plan was designed to balance conservation of king salmon with opportunity across all user groups. While escapement goals for king salmon have not yet been achieved due to continued low production, the plan demonstrably reduced harvest pressure during periods of high vulnerability. It has also provided managers with flexibility to adapt to unprecedentedly large sockeye runs while providing conservation benefits for king salmon.
Conclusions
Because king salmon lifecycles span 4–7 years, tangible improvements in run strength and long-term biological outcomes from plan actions cannot yet be expected or assessed. However, the first three years of implementation show that the 2023 management plan appears to be functioning as intended. It has delayed fishery openings, reduced fishing time, increased escapements of both king and sockeye salmon, and enhanced protection for large king salmon in the sport fishery.
Prepared for:
Nushagak River and District Fishery Stakeholders