Ken Smith/Turnagain Times
King salmon head up Bird Creek to spawning grounds. Last year only 106 kings were counted by Fish and Game biologists. The fishery was closed until July 13.
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Ken Smith/Turnagain Times |
By Ken Smith Turnagain Times
An emergency order has been issued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to close the Bird Creek drainage to all sport fishing to protect the wild run of kings. The restriction went into effect on Tuesday, June 23 and will continue through Monday, July 13. Fish and Game took the action to reduce the incidental catch and illegal harvest of king salmon in the Bird Creek drainage. The Bird Creek king salmon escapement has averaged approximately 125 fish annually since 2000 with four of the lowest escapements on record occurring since 2002, including 2008 when approximately 100 fish were counted. Biologists are concerned that illegal harvests and deaths due to incidental catches could jeopardize the small king run, so Fish and Game implemented the closure to protect the bulk of the king salmon return. “We haven’t done an escapement survey this year yet,” said Fisheries Biologist Chuck Brazil. “The small return of wild king salmon cannot sustain a sport harvest.” King salmon fishing on Bird Creek has always been closed by regulation, he said, but the system has been open to fishing all year. “This year there’s been a large number of anglers down there targeting king salmon,” Brazil said. “They’re not supposed to, and that’s why we closed it. Some fishermen will tell you they’re fishing for Dolly Varden, but they are using fishing gear with 30 pound test line, and are obviously fishing for kings.” Brazil said no anglers have been caught hooking a king, but several people have called the department and reported seeing anglers catching kings, and one caller said they saw an angler carrying a couple of kings back to the parking lot. “We’ve been down there several times,” said Brazil. “We talk to anglers and inform them that the creek is closed to king salmon fishing, and there are signs posted including the emergency order as well.” The five-year average for king salmon escapement in Bird Creek is 154 from 2004 to 2008. Fish and Game started counting kings in 1984. In the first survey 21 kings were counted; the largest count was in 1999 with approximately 500 kings returning. Last year 106 were counted. “There is a limited amount of rearing habitat for the juveniles in the Bird Creek,” said Brazil. “It’s a small drainage, and they can only make it up to the falls about a mile-and-a-half to the fishery. There are also a few that make it up to Penguin Creek, which flows into Bird Creek about a mile up.” Brazil said the department is going to discuss keeping the fishery closed through July 13, to assure that the kings continue to come back on an annual basis and preserve that stock. Last year the king run was later than past years, about 10 days, delaying the survey about a week. The number of kings counted at Penguin Creek was 31 and Bird Creek 75. There are no fish counters on the creek, instead Biologist conduct stream surveys, and these are dependant upon stream conditions like discharge rates and visibility in the waters, said Brazil. “We actually wade the entire creek from Penguin Creek down to the confluence of Bird Creek,” he said, “and then we walk it to the falls and then back down to the mouth. We wait each year to conduct these surveys when stream conditions are good for seeing fish. No survey sees 100 percent the fish, but it’s a pretty good estimate, and a reliable index of what is in the drainage each year.” Brazil said that last year the department didn’t receive calls of problems of illegal fishing of Chinook, but this year we definitely becoming a problem, he said, so they issued the emergency order to close Bird Creek to fishing. If an angler is caught illegally fishing for Chinook salmon than the penalty is $100 for fishing in closed waters and an additional $150 per king salmon harvested, and a $10 a court fee for processing. Fish and Game is conducting daily observations of the creek to enforce the law. The king run in Bird Creek typically begins in early June and ends by July 13. Silver salmon are expected to start showing up around July 14 to July 21 and continue until the middle of September or even up to freeze up. Pink salmon will also begin arriving around the same time and continue returning close to the end of August. The fishery will reopen July 14 to allow anglers to participate in the creek’s popular pink and silver salmon fisheries. The silver and pink runs tend to peak around the first and second week of August. The silvers are hatchery fish and the pinks are wild. In 2008, about 3,000 silvers were harvested and approximately 1,000 pinks. The pink escapement in Bird Creek last year was about 5,300. There is no escapement goal for silvers because the run is enhanced by the hatchery.