Cook Inlet Personal Use Fisheries Important Information

What is "Personal Use"?

"Personal use" is a legally defined type of fishery. It is defined as "the taking, attempting to take or possession of finfish, shellfish or aquatic plants by an individual Alaskan for consumption as food or use as bait by that individual or his immediate family."

For fishing and hunting purposes, the Alaska State Legislature has defined a resident as "a person who is physically present in Alaska with the intent to remain indefinitely and makes a home here, has maintained that person's domicile in Alaska for 12 consecutive months immediately preceding an application for a license and not claiming residency or obtaining benefits under a claim of residency in another state, territory or country."

The Board of Fisheries established personal use fisheries to allow Alaskan residents to harvest fish for food in areas that are not eligible for subsistence fisheries, such as Cook Inlet.

Personal use fisheries are only allowed when they won't jeopardize sustained yield of the resource, and won't negatively impact an existing resource use, and are in the broad public interest.

It is unlawful to buy, sell, trade or barter personal use finfish, shellfish, aquatic plants, or their parts.

• Kenai River salmon dipnetting
• Kasilof River salmon dipnetting
• Kasilof River salmon set gillnetting
• Fish Creek sockeye salmon dipnetting
• Kachemak Bay coho salmon gillnetting
• China Poot sockeye salmon dipnetting
• Hooligan (eulachon, smelt) dipnetting & gillnetting
• Herring dipnetting & gillnetting

These fisheries take place under the terms of management plans. There are also management plans that govern open seasons for the commercial fisheries. See "Management" above.

Personal use is for Alaskan residents only

Only Alaskan residents may participate in personal use fisheries, and by regulation, only those holding a valid Alaska resident sport fishing license, or ADF&G Permanent Identification Card (senior license), or ADF&G Disabled Veteran's license may participate in these fisheries.

Alaska resident youth under 16 do not have to purchase a sport fishing license to participate. However, they must meet the residency requirement.

Non-residents MAY NOT participate in personal use fisheries. Participation includes, but is not limited to, handling the gear, handling the fish, or driving the boat.

Who may receive personal use fish

Finfish, shellfish, or aquatic plants harvested in personal use fisheries may not be given to non-family members (except when proxy fishing), because personal use is defined as "taking, attempting to take or possession by an individual for consumption as food or use as bait by that individual or his immediate family."

Personal use fish may be used for food or for bait.

A permit may also be required

In the following fisheries, a permit is required in addition to an Alaska resident sport fishing license, ADF&G senior license or ADF&G Disabled Veteran's License:

1. Kenai River dipnetting
2. Kasilof River dipnetting
3. Kasilof River set gillnetting
4. Fish Creek dipnetting
5. Kachemak Bay coho set gillnet

The first four fisheries are combined into one permit, the Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use Salmon Permit.

The fifth fishery, the Kachemak Bay coho set gillnet, requires its own separate permit.

Households may not have both the Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use Salmon Permit and the Kachemak Bay Coho Salmon Set Gillnet Permit. Households must choose one or the other permit.

Households that have more than one Upper Cook Inlet personal use permit, or that have both the Upper Cook Inlet and the Kachemak Bay coho set gillnet permit may be subject to fines and loss of future personal use fishing privileges.

Personal use permits are household permits. This means that only one permit is required per household. However, all participating members of the household who are 16 years old or older must also have an Alaska resident sport fishing license, ADF&G senior license or ADF&G Disabled Veteran's license to participate, and must be named on the permit.

Where limitations are placed on households, remember: A household member is defined as a person or persons domiciled in the same residence. A person's domicile is defined as the true and permanent home of a person from which the person has no present intention of moving and to which the person intends to return whenever the person is away.

1. China Poot sockeye salmon dipnetting
2. Hooligan dipnetting or gillnetting
3. Herring dipnetting or gillnetting.

Permits must be filled in each time you fish

You must record the date, location, and harvest by species each time you fish. You must fill in this information even if you did not catch any fish - write "0" in the space provided for harvest.

The salmon must be recorded on the permit before it is concealed from plain view, such as put in a cooler, or before the salmon is transported from the fishing site, such as your vehicle. Failure to record the salmon on the permit is a violation, and may be subject to fines and loss of future personal use fishing privileges.

Permits must be returned to ADF&G

Each household permit is also a harvest recording document. You must return your permit to ADF&G at the end of the fishing season, by the date specified on the permit, even if you did not use the permit, and even if you did use the permit but did not catch anything.

Failure to return the permit is a violation of 5 AAC 77.015(c) and may be subject to a $200 fine and loss of your personal use fishing privileges.

Harvest information recorded on the permit is used to monitor the fisheries and to ensure conservation and sustained yield of fishery resources.

Where to get the permit

You can obtain a Cook Inlet Personal Use Salmon Permit at many of the vendors who sell Alaska sport fishing licenses, or at your local ADF&G, Sport Fish Division office. See Helpful Links, below.

The Kachemak Bay Coho Salmon Set Gillnet Permit is available only in the Homer ADF&G office.

Personal use salmon required to be "marked"

By regulation, you must "mark" salmon harvested in a personal use fishery in which a permit is required by clipping both tips of the tail fin. Many people use strong kitchen shears to cut off both tips of the tail fin.

Because it is unlawful to buy, sell, trade or barter personal use fish or their parts, a person may not possess personal use salmon that was taken under the authority of a permit unless both tips of the tail fin have been removed from the salmon. The salmon must be marked before the salmon is concealed from plain view, such as put in a cooler, or before the salmon is transported from the fishing site, such as your vehicle. Failure to mark the salmon is a violation, and may be subject to fines and loss of future personal use fishing privileges.

This marking requirement applies only to salmon, not to hooligan (smelt) or herring. The marking requirement also does not apply to salmon taken at China Poot, since no permit is required.

Bag limits

     Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use Salmon

The total yearly harvest out of all the Upper Cook Inlet personal use salmon fisheries (Kenai, Kasilof, and Fish Creek) is 25 salmon and 10 flounder for the permit holder and 10 salmon for each additional household member. The limit is combined for all four fisheries - Kenai dipnetting, Kasilof dipnetting, Kasilof set gillnetting, and Fish Creek dipnetting.

Of the total household limit, only one (1) king salmon may be kept from the Kenai River dipnet fishery. No king salmon may be kept in the Kasilof River dipnet fishery or the Fish Creek dipnet fishery. Any king salmon caught in the Kasilof River personal use set gillnet fishery may be retained.

These are household limits, not a daily limit, or a limit per fishery.

     Kachemak Bay Coho Set Gillnet

Bag limits for the Kachemak Bay Coho Set Gillnet fishery are also 25 for the permit holder plus 10 for each additional household member.

These are household limits, not a daily limit, or a limit per fishery.

     China Poot

The bag and possession limits are six (6) sockeye salmon per person per day. Only sockeye salmon may be retained.

     Hooligan (smelt) and herring

There are no limits to the number of hooligan and herring you may catch. You may keep as many as you will use as food or bait.

There's no harvest guarantee

A lot of variables go into a successful dipnetting trip -- run strength of the salmon, timing of the run, tides, weather, wind, other fisheries, skill, and luck may all play a part.

As with any other type of fishery, whether it is fly-fishing, spin casting, or commercial fishing, there is no guarantee of bringing home fish. Instead, this fishery offers Alaskan residents the opportunity to harvest fish.

You can improve your chances of success by being informed about the tides, weather, historical characteristics of the run, schedule of other fisheries, and other variables. Most of this information is available on the Internet or recorded telephone hot lines. See the Helpful Links, below

Legal gear: dipnet

In 5 AAC 39.105 of the Alaska Administrative Code, a dipnet is defined as

1. a bag-shaped net supported on all sides by a rigid frame;
2. the maximum straight-line distance between any two points on the net frame, as measured between any two points on the net frame, as measured through the net opening, may not exceed five feet;
3. the depth of the bag must be at least one-half of the greatest straight-line distance, as measured through the net opening;
4. no portion of the bag may be constructed of webbing that exceeds a stretched measurement of 4.5 inches;
5. the frame must be attached to a single rigid handle and be operated by hand.

This definition applies statewide, to both salmon and herring/hooligan dipnet fisheries.

Legal gear: set gillnet

5 AAC 39.105 defines a set gillnet as "a gillnet that has been intentionally set, staked, anchored, or otherwise fixed." See the Kasilof River set gillnet fishery web page for additional gear restrictions.

Legal gear: drift gillnet

5 AAC 39.105 defines a drift gillnet as "a drifting gillnet that has not been intentionally set, staked, anchored, or otherwise fixed." See the herring and hooligan web site for additional gear restrictions.

Set or drift gillnet web requirements

1. The web must contain at least 30 filaments and all filaments must be of equal diameter, or
2. The web must contain at least six filaments, each of which must be at least 0.20 millimeter in diameter.

Gillnet or pot marking requirements

Each personal use fisherman shall plainly and legibly inscribe his or her first initial, last name, and home address on a keg or buoy attached to a gillnet or pot. A keg or buoy attached to a pot must also be inscribed with the name or US Coast Guard number of the vessel used to operate the pot.

Helpful links

• Printable Fact Sheet [Dipnetting 101]
• Sport Fish & Personal Use Emergency Orders
• Potential fishing strategies for the Upper Cook Inlet, 2006 (23 Kb PDF)
• Central Region Commercial Fishery Emergency Order openings
• Where to get your permit
• Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use Salmon Fishery Harvest and Effort
• Printable Southcentral Alaska Personal Use regulations (Personal Use link off this page)
• Management Plans   (This link is to the Table of Contents for the Alaska Administrative Code. Please note the number of the management plan you are interested in reading, and enter that as a search term.)
• Proxy Fishing
• In-season sonar estimates & weir counts
• Board of Fisheries
• Alaska Department of Public Safety, Division of Wildlife Troopers
• Boating safety and regulations
• Safely boating past the Kenai River king salmon sonar project

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