Basic Definitions:
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recognizes the definition of subsistence fishing to mean the taking of, fishing for, or possession of fish, shellfish, or other fisheries resources by a resident of the state for subsistence uses with gill net, seine, fish wheel, long line, or other means defined by the Board of Fisheries.
Management:
Management of subsistence fishing in state of Alaska-managed fisheries is handled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries.
Management of subsistence fishing in Alaska became a bit more complex, however, when in 1990 the Federal government began managing subsistence hunting, trapping, and fishing on Alaska's Federal public lands and non-navigable waters, and again in 1999, when federal subsistence mangement expanded to include fisheries on all Federal public lands and waters.
To better understand subsistence and personal use fisheries please read the following excerpt from Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 2005. Alaska Subsistence Fishries 2003 Annual Report. Division of Subsistence. Juneau. - PDF file* (1,135K) :
"Subsistence uses of wild resources are defined as 'noncommercial, customary and traditional uses' for a variety of purposes. These include:
"Direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools, or transportation, for the making and selling of handicraft articles out of nonedible by-products of fish and wildlife resources taken for personal or family consumption, and for the customary trade, barter, or sharing for personal or family consumption (AS 16.05.940[32]).
"Under Alaska’s subsistence statute, the Alaska board of Fisheries must identify fish stocks that support subsistence fisheries and, if there is a harvestable surplus of these stocks, adopt regulations that provide reasonable opportunities for these subsistence uses to take place. Whenever it is necessary to restrict harvests, subsistence fisheries have a preference over other uses of the stock (AS 16.05.258).
"Also, the Joint Board of Fisheries and Game is required to identify 'nonsubsistence areas,' where 'dependence upon subsistence is not a principle characteristic of the economy, culture, and way of life of the area or community' (AS 16.05.258(c)). The Board of Fisheries may not authorize subsistence fisheries in nonsubsistence areas. Personal Use fisheries provide opportunities for harvesting fish with gear other than rod and reel in nonsubsistence areas. The Joint Board has identified five nonsubsistence areas (5 AAC 99.015): Ketchikan Nonsubsistence Area, Juneau nonsubsistence Area, Anchorage-Matsu-Kenai Nonsubsistence Area, Fairbanks Nonsubsistence Area, and Valdez nonsubsistence Area."
and
"Personal use fisheries are different from subsistence fisheries because they do not meet the criteria established by the Joint Board for identifying customary and traditional fisheries (5 AAC 99.010), or because they occur within nonsubsistence areas."
For complete definitions and to view regulations for personal use and subsistence fishing please see the following:
- State of Alaska Regulations:
- Federal Regulations:
Contacts / Information:
For additional information pertaining to subsistence or personal use fisheries in Alaska please contact one of our ADF&G Division of Commercial Fisheries Offices, ADF&G Sport Fish Offices, or Subsistence Division Offices in your area or for subsistence on Federal public lands or waters, members of the Federal Subsistence Board .
chinook salmon at their family fish camp.
Links:
(to Fisheries Areas / Regional pages and Regulations)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Click here for help in understanding how to best naviagate State of Alaska regulation pages (5 AAC) listed below.
- Statewide subsistence provisions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.001 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.001)
- Alaska Peninsula Area (halibut, all other finfish, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.400 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.500)
- Aleutian Islands Area (halibut, all other finfish, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.350 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.500)
- Bering Sea Area (all shellfish —some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see 5 AAC 02.600)
- Bristol Bay Area (all finfish, herring spawn on kelp —some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see 5 AAC 01.300)
- Chignik Area (salmon, other finfish, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.450 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.500)
- Cook Inlet (some salmon, other finfish, halibut and herring, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.550 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.300)
- Copper River Salmon - Personal Use and Subsistence Fisheries
- Kodiak Area (salmon, other finfish, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.500 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.400)
- Kotzebue Area (herring, herring roe, salmon, sheefish, char, and all other finfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see 5 AAC 01.100)
- Kuskokwim Area (Kuskokwim River and Bay salmon; Security Cove, Goodnews Bay, Cape Avinof, Nelson Island and Nunivak Island hering; other area halibut, Pacific cod, and all other finfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see 5 AAC 01.250)
- Norton Sound–Port Clarence Area (herring, herring roe, salmon, and all other finfish other than salmon — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see 5 AAC 01.150)
- Prince William Sound (salmon, groundfish, herring, herring spawn on kelp, smelt, other finfish, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.600 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.200)
- Southeast Alaska (aquatic plants, herring and herring spawn, halibut and bottomfish, salmon, Dolly varden char, steelhead trout, and smelt, eulachon, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.700 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.100)
- Yakutat (herring and herring spawn, halibut and bottomfish, salmon, Dolly varden char, steelhead trout, and smelt, and some shellfish — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see finfish: 5 AAC 01.650 and shellfish: 5 AAC 02.100)
- Yukon-Northern Area (including Minto Flats, Tanana and Toklat Rivers; Yukon River and area herring, herring roe, salmon, freshwater fish species [including sheefish, whitefish, lamprey, burbot, sucker, grayling, pike and char], and all other finfish other than salmon — some regulatory restrictions or exceptions — see 5 AAC 01.200)
For additional information regarding subsistence fishing, hunting, or trapping, or personal use fishing see additional materials on this and related pages or contact staff using the Contact / Information links at the bottom of the left-hand column of this page.
