(Released: February 26, 2020 - Expired: December 31, 2020)

Division of Sport Fish
Dave Rutz, Director
Anchorage Headquarters Office
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, AK 99518


Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Doug Vincent-Lang, Commissioner
P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, AK 99811-5526
www.adfg.alaska.gov


Contact: Mike Booz, Area Management Biologist
(907) 235-8191

New Regulations for Lower Cook Inlet Sport Fisheries in 2020

(Homer) - The Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) adopted several proposals establishing new sport fishing regulations for the Lower Cook Inlet Management Area at its December 2019. At the Upper Cook Inlet BOF meeting in February 2020, a new personal use regulation was adopted to allow the harvest of dislodged aquatic plants or kelp. Several changes were made for sport fishing in Cook Inlet saltwaters and legal gear was modified for the upstream sections of the lower Kenai Peninsula roadside streams in the month of August. Regulatory changes are summarized below as a service to anglers, and not as a complete digest of all sport fishing regulations. The new regulations will take effect with the release of the 2020 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary booklet when it is issued the first week of April 2020. Please see the 2020 booklet for a complete summary of the Lower Cook Inlet sport fisheries regulations.

Upper Cook Inlet Saltwaters (north of the latitude of Bluff Point)

  • King salmon sport fishing regulations associated with the special king salmon management area will now include all Upper Cook Inlet saltwaters.
  • The southern boundary of the area prohibited to snagging year-round has been moved from Anchor Point to Bluff Point.

Lower Cook Inlet Saltwaters (south of the latitude of Bluff Point)

  • The Homer Marine Barge basin located approximately ½ mile north of the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on the Homer Spit will be closed to all sport fishing.
  • In Kachemak Bay, snagging will be allowed year-round, excluding the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon area.

Fresh Waters

  • In the upstream sections above the 2-mile markers of Anchor River, Stariski Creek, Deep Creek, and Ninilchik River, gear will be limited to one unbaited, single-hook, artificial lure.
  • In the Anchor River, the upstream boundary of the area open to sport fishing was changed from the junction of the North and South Forks to an ADF&G marker located approximately 200 yards upstream of the Old Sterling Highway Bridge.

Aquatic Plants

  • A new personal use fishery was established for aquatic plants in the Anchorage, Mat-Su, and Kenai nonsubsistence areas.
    • The aquatic plant personal use fishery season will be January 1 through April 30 and September 1 through December 31.
    • The harvest will be limited to an individual-based bag and possession limit of 10 gallons of aquatic plants that have been naturally dislodged from the substrate and located at or above the daily high tide line.
    • No permit is required.
  • Outside the nonsubsistence area, the bag and possession limit was changed to 10 gallons of aquatic plants.

For additional information, please contact Area Management Biologist Mike Booz or Assistant Area Management Biologist Holly Dickson at (907) 235-8191.

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