The Alaska Division of Sport Fish is now accepting public comment on its statewide fish-stocking plan.
The Division, with assistance from private non-profit hatchery operators, plans to release nearly eight million fish into the waters of Alaska every year for the next five years to benefit recreational anglers.
According to Ken Marsh of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, outlining how many of each species of fish to be stocked at each location is the main purpose of the stocking plan.
“Only fish from Sport Fish hatchery facilities and from private non-profit hatcheries who, in cooperation with ADF&G produce fish to improve recreational fisheries, are included in this plan,” Marsh said in an email on Dec. 12
For Southeast Alaska – particularly the areas of Wrangell and Petersburg – that means Chinook and Coho salmon.
The plan calls for an annual release of 600,000 Chinook salmon smolts at the Crystal Lake Hatchery at Blind Slough. The smolts will be from Andrew Creek ancestral stock and will be used as broodstock for future releases at the hatchery and Anita Bay. The plan is expected to add up to 3,500 angler-days at Blind Slough, and as many as 3,000 angler-days in the Wrangell Narrows.
For Coho salmon, the plan calls for stocking of up to 150,000 smolts at Crystal Creek to provide a harvest of 1,500 fish per year at Blind Slough.
Comments may be sent by email to Diane Loopstra in Anchorage at diane.loopstra@alaska.gov. The plan is also posted on the agency’s website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov.
The deadline for comment is January 13, 2012.
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