By Cristy Fry / SEAWATCH / Homer News 2/8/14
The Alaska Board of Fisheries hammered out a Kenai River king salmon fisheries plan that left the setnetters looking at possibly having only 12 hours of fishing time per week for sockeye depending upon the strength of the king salmon returns.
Under what is being called “paired restrictions,” when the in-river king salmon fishermen are restricted to catch and release, the restriction to 12 hours kicks in.
Those hours do not have to be consecutive, but they cannot take place during the 36-hour “window” from Thursday at 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Saturday, a closure designed to allow in-river opportunity for sport fishermen and dipnetters.
What the board did not do was provide protections for king salmon by banning barbed hooks or fishing in spawning beds, or any other in-river measures such as limiting use of motorized boats or hours commercial guides can operate.
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