Comprehensive Salmon Enhancement Plan for Southeast Alaska: Phase Iii
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COMPREHENSIVE SALMON ENHANCEMENT PLAN FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA: PHASE III DEVELOPED BY JOINT NORTHERN/SOUTHERN SOUTHEAST REGIONAL PLANNING TEAM Alaska Department of Fish and Game P.O. Box 25526 Juneau, Alaska 99802-5526 Kevin C. Duffy, Commissioner June 2004 Comprehensive Salmon Enhancement Plan For Southeast Alaska: Phase III Developed by Joint Northern/Southern Southeast Regional Planning Team Alaska Department of Fish and Game P.O. Box 25526 Juneau, Alaska 99802-5526 i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), in accordance with AS 16.10.375-470, has designated salmon production regions throughout the state. The commissioner is responsible for the development and amendment of a comprehensive salmon plan to guide enhancement activities in each region. The commissioner has delegated this responsibility to regional planning teams (RPTs) consisting of representatives from ADF&G and regional aquaculture associations. The mission of the Joint Northern/Southern Southeast Regional Planning Team (Joint RPT) is to promote through sound biological practices programs to achieve optimal production of wild and enhanced salmon stocks on a sustained yield basis for maximal social and economic benefit to all communities and user groups in the region. The Comprehensive Salmon Enhancement Plan for Southeast Alaska: Phase III is a project of the Southeast Sustainable Salmon Fisheries Fund; it was initiated by the Joint RPT in the fall of 2002 and was developed by Joint RPT members, special projects staff, state and federal agencies, and other parties involved in the enhancement program in Southeast. In April 2003, a preliminary draft was provided to Joint RPT members and invited agency reviewers. The comments/revisions received from these individuals were incorporated into a public review draft. In February 2004 that draft was made available to fishermen, processors, regional and nonregional PNP corporations, state and federal agencies, Southeast communities, and other interested parties. Comments and suggestions from the public were incorporated into this final draft, which was reviewed by the Joint RPT during its spring 2004 meeting and sent to ADF&G Commissioner Kevin Duffy with their recommendation for approval. This phase III plan culminates in the formalization of a series of guidelines to assess the viability of proposed future increments of production and/or projects and to assure continued sustainability of wild salmon stocks. This plan further provides goals and objectives as well as a comprehensive overview of the fisheries enhancement program in Southeast Alaska. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Joint RPT respectfully acknowledges its members for their contributions to programs of ADF&G and the PNP enhancement community as well as the Southeast community at large for their contributions and efforts in drafting the phase III plan: SSEPT: Ken Duckett, gillnet, Ketchikan; Dave Otte, power troll, Ketchikan; John Peckham, seine, Ketchikan; Garold Pryor, resource development, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Andy McGregor, management, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Rocky Holmes, management, Division of Sport Fish, Douglas; Steve Leask, ex officio, Tamgas Hatchery, Metlakatla; Dick Aho, ex officio, Forest Service, Petersburg; and Geoff Whistler, ex officio, DCED, Juneau. NSERPT: Kevin McDougal, gillnet, Juneau; Alan Andersen, power troll, Sitka; Bryon Pfundt, seine, Petersburg; Andy McGregor, management, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Rocky Holmes, management Division of Sport Fish, Douglas Garold Pryor, resource development, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Eric Prestegard, ex officio, DIPAC, Juneau; Dick Aho, ex officio, Forest Service, Petersburg; and Geoff Whistler, ex officio, DCED, Juneau. The Joint RPT extends its acknowledgments and appreciation for contributions to this plan to John Burke, general manager, SSRAA, Ketchikan; Steve Reifenstuhl, operations manager, NSRAA, Sitka; Bill Heard, Alex Wertheimer, and Frank Thrower, fisheries research biologists, National Marine Fisheries Service, Auke Bay Lab; Steve McGee, acting RPT chairman, PNP program manager, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Jim Seeb, principal geneticist, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Anchorage; Dan Moore, geneticist, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Anchorage; Ted Meyers, principal pathologist, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Scott Kelley, Southeast management coordinator, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Kevin Monagle, former RPT chairman, Juneau area management biologist, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Irv Brock, assistant director, Division of Sport Fish, Juneau; Bob Piorkowski, invasive species coordinator, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Amy Carroll, Jim Craig, and Kurt Savikko, publication specialists, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Katrina Lokke and Suzanna Girmscheid, administrative clerks, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Dave Barto, habitat biologist, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; Lon Garrison, field projects manager, NSRAA, Sitka; Ron Josephson, program coordinator, Mark, Tag, and Age Laboratory, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Glen Oliver, research supervisor, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Douglas; and Greg Bigsby, former NSERPT gillnet representative, Haines. Acknowledgment and appreciation are extended to members of the special projects staff who were responsible for drafting the initial document and coordinating development of subsequent drafts: Carol Denton, fisheries biologist, Hyder; Ken Duckett, executive director, United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters, Ketchikan; and Sid Morgan, planner, Juneau. iii Acknowledgments are gratefully extended to all hatchery managers and operators for their cooperation in the development of the hatchery profile section of the plan, including the following who have not been previously mentioned: Bart Watson and Karen Lechner, Port Armstrong Hatchery, Baranof Island; John Bruns, Klawock River Hatchery, Prince of Wales Island; Steve Andison and Brock Meredith, Gunnuk Creek Hatchery, Kake; Jerry Taylor, Auke Creek Hatchery, Juneau; Gene Richards, Burro Creek Hatchery, northern Lynn Canal; Jerry Guthrie, Deer Mountain Hatchery, Ketchikan; and David Harrington, Sheldon Jackson Hatchery, Sitka. The contributions of the following reviewers of the plan are also gratefully acknowledged: William Bergmann, Petersburg area management biologist, Division of Commercial Fisheries; Kathy Hansen, executive director, Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance, Juneau; Craig Farrington, hatchery program coordinator, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; Ben VanAlen, subsistence fisheries biologist, Forest Service, Juneau; Tom Brookover, regional management coordinator, Division of Sport Fish, Sitka; William Davidson, Sitka area management biologist, Division of Commercial Fisheries; Bob Chadwick, Sitka area sport fish biologist, Division of Sport Fish; Randy Ericksen, Haines area sport fish biologist, Division of Sport Fish; and Randy Bachman, Haines area management biologist, Division of Commercial Fisheries. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 The Salmon Enhancement Program.........................................................................1 Phase I and Phase II Enhancement Planning in Southeast ......................................1 Salmon Production and Harvests During Phase I and Phase II Planning................1 Phase III Strategic Elements ....................................................................................5 Mission Statement....................................................................................................5 Goals ............................................................................................................5 Objectives ....................................................................................................6 Strategies......................................................................................................6 Assumptions.................................................................................................7 Sustainable Salmon Fisheries Policy and Phase III Planning..................................8 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.........................................................................................10 Early Fisheries/Hatcheries.....................................................................................10 State Hatchery Program .........................................................................................12 Private Nonprofit Enhancement Program..............................................................14 Policy Development...............................................................................................19 Discussion..............................................................................................................20 HATCHERY PROFILES ..................................................................................................22 Regional Hatcheries and Related Enhancement Projects ......................................22 Neets Bay and Whitman Lake