Welcome to the Board of Fisheries

Board of Fisheries News

2017 Advisory Committee Excellence in Service Award Winners (PDF 324 kB)
Alaska Board of Fisheries 2017–2018 Meeting Schedule (PDF 55 kB)
Alaska Board of Fisheries 2018–2019 Meeting Schedule (PDF 232 kB)

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The Board of Fisheries provides notices for meetings, regulatory changes, proposals, and calls for proposals electronically. Sign up here to receive information on your areas and regions of interest. (Advisory Committee members are automatically signed up.) To request information by hard copy, please contact us at 907-465-4110.

About the Board

The Alaska Board of Fisheries consists of seven members serving three-year terms. Members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. Members are appointed on the basis of interest in public affairs, good judgment, knowledge, and ability in the field of action of the board, with a view to providing diversity of interest and points of view in the membership (see Alaska Statute 16.05.221).

The Board of Fisheries’ main role is to conserve and develop the fishery resources of the state. This involves setting seasons, bag limits, methods and means for the state’s subsistence, commercial, sport, guided sport, and personal use fisheries, and it also involves setting policy and direction for the management of the state’s fishery resources. The board is charged with making allocative decisions, and the department is responsible for management based on those decisions.

The board has a three-year meeting cycle (PDF 610 kB). The meetings generally occur from October through March. The Board of Fisheries meets four to six times per year in communities around the state to consider proposed changes to fisheries regulations around the state. The board uses the biological and socioeconomic information provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, public comment received from people inside and outside of the state, and guidance from the Alaska Department of Public Safety and Alaska Department of Law when creating regulations that are sound and enforceable.

Board of Fisheries Authority

The Board of Fisheries is established under Alaska Statute 16.05.221 for the purposes of the conservation and development of the fisheries resources of the state. The Board of Fisheries has the authority to adopt regulations described in AS 16.05.251 including: establishing open and closed seasons and areas for taking fish; setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels and limitations for taking fish; and establishing the methods and means for the taking of fish. The regulations the Board of Fisheries has authority over are 5 AAC Chapters 1- 77.