Due to an expected low sockeye return this season, the U.S. Forest Service Thorne Bay District Ranger has closed the subsistence sockeye fishery at Hatchery Creek on Prince of Wales Island.
The closure starts Wednesday and lasts through Aug. 23. The closure affects Hatchery Creek from 100 feet upstream of the upper falls to 100 feet downstream of the lower falls.
Catch-and-release is allowed elsewhere in the creek with limited gear.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game also has closed both the personal use and sport fishery within the drainage. The restrictions could be lifted if the run is stronger than predicted.
Starting Aug. 1, users may subsistence fish for coho salmon in the vicinity of the Hatchery Creek falls. Gear is restricted to rod and reel or dip net, and any sockeye caught must be released. Fishing on, from, or within the fish pass at the upper falls is prohibited.
For additional information, please contact Jeff Reeves at (907) 826-3271, Rosann Fillmore at (907) 228-6201 or Andrea Medeiros, Office of Subsistence Management, toll-free at 800-478-1456 or (907) 786-3888. Additional information on the Federal Subsistence Management Program can be found on the web at http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/home.html.
