Contact:
Tom Taube
Regional Management Supervisor
Phone: 907-822-3309

The first opening of the 2006 Copper River Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use Dipnet Salmon Fishery is tentatively scheduled to open on Saturday, June 3rd at 12:01 PM and close on Sunday, June 4th at 8:00 PM for a 32-hour opening.

The preliminary season schedule is listed in the table below. This preseason schedule is based upon the projected daily sonar counts at the Miles Lake sonar. This schedule is subject to change based upon actual salmon escapement once the sonar is in place. If actual counts are below the projected counts, fishing time will be reduced. If actual counts are above the projected counts, fishing time will be increased accordingly. This preseason schedule is outlined in the Copper River Personal Use Dip Net Salmon Fishery Management Plan (5 AAC 77.591) and is designed to distribute the harvest throughout the run based on actual salmon abundance.

Sockeye salmon in excess of the projected escapement (surplus) may be harvested by all users (personal use, subsistence and sport fishing). During weeks when the surplus is greater than 50,000 salmon, 10 additional sockeye salmon may be taken on the Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use Dip Net Salmon Fishery permit.

Travel time for salmon between the Miles Lake sonar and Chitina is approximately two weeks; as a result, changes to the preliminary schedule and notice of supplemental periods will be announced two weeks prior to the fishing period via emergency order and the fishing information phone lines.

A total of 8,298 Chitina Subdistrict permits were issued in 2005 and the harvest estimates are: 120,013 sockeye, 2,043 chinook, and 1,869 coho salmon.

Permits for the Chitina Subdistrict fishery will be available during business hours (8:00AM – 5:00PM, M-F) from the following locations: Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) offices in Anchorage, Delta Junction, Fairbanks, Glennallen, and Palmer; and at 41 license vendors located in Anchorage, Chitina, Chugiak, Copper Center, Delta Junction, Eagle River, Eielson AFB, Fairbanks, Ft. Wainwright, Glennallen, North Pole, Palmer, Salcha, Valdez, and Wasilla. Permits will be available at all locations no later than June 1st. In addition to the permit, a sport fishing license is required to participate in the Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use fishery. A household is limited to one Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use fishery permit per calendar year. You must have your sport fishing license and permit when fishing and all fish taken (and date taken) must be recorded on the permit before leaving the fishing site. Tips of the tail fin must be removed immediately upon landing a fish. After you have completed fishing for the season, or by October 15, you must return your permit to the ADF&G office address on the permit. This includes permits that were not fished or which had no salmon harvested.

All uplands on both banks of the Copper River within the Chitina Subdistrict boundaries are private. The 300’ wide O’Brien Creek Road easement is public land, as are all lands below the ordinary high water mark of the Copper River. Public access to the Copper River is only available in those areas where the eastern boundary of this easement reaches the ordinary high water mark of the west bank of the Copper River. Not all private land is posted. A brochure, which offers guidance into private land location within the fishery area will be distributed with the permit The Department urges dipnetters to respect the rights of private landowners.

There are no plans to repair the landslide area between O’Brien and Haley Creeks; the road remains closed to all traffic beyond the sign just prior to the slide area. Vehicle and foot access to the Copper River remains restricted and substantially reduced at O’Brien Creek. Access to the Copper River is still available at this site and the charter boats were able to operate from this site in 2005. The O’Brien Creek Road right of way does not extend to the Copper River ordinary high water line and the landowners have partially blocked the river access at the point. River access is still available at sites where the road right of way extends to the ordinary high water line.

There is currently no boat launching available at O’Brien Creek, but it remains possible to launch a boat from the eastern upstream side of the Chitina-McCarthy Bridge.

Information regarding the fishery can be found at the ADF&G web site: www.sf. adfg.state.ak.us/region3/areas/ucus/chitina/chitina.cfm. This site provides information regarding the Upper Copper River fisheries including: fishery descriptions and summaries, maps of the subdistricts, a listing of vendors that carry the permits, and links to the sonar numbers and fishery opening Emergency Orders. As in the past, fishery openings and river conditions will be announced on the Chitina Fishery information line at 822-5224 (Glennallen), 459-7382 (Fairbanks), and 267-2511 (Anchorage). Please contact an information phone line prior to planning your trip to Chitina to insure that the fishery will be open when you arrive. If you have any questions regarding the Chitina Subdistrict personal use fishery, please contact the ADF&G office in Glennallen at (907) 822-3309. Recorded messages, which are updated each Tuesday once the fishery opens, will have revised opening dates: 822-5224 in Glennallen, 459-7382 in Fairbanks, and 267-2511 in Anchorage.