Board adopts RC 161 substitute for Proposal 186 to limit Central District drift gillnet fishing aimed at coho conservation

The board voted to adopt substitute language (RC 161) for Proposal 186 amending the Central District drift gillnet fishery management plan, a move proponents said is intended to improve conservation of northern‑bound coho salmon.

Colton Lipka, Cook Inlet regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries, told the board RC 161 would narrow the areas open to expanded Kenai and expanded Kasilof sections, limit daily fishing to a maximum of 16 hours, establish regular windows (identified in staff comments as Tuesday and Friday), and impose a two‑mile prohibition on drift gillnet fishing within two miles of the Kenai Peninsula shoreline. Lipka said the substitute also would change the late‑summer trigger from a 1% rule to a temporary 3% rule for Aug. 1–15 and tie additional fishing time to a Kenai River run strength threshold of 2,300,000 sockeye.

Why it mattered: staff warned that, if adopted, RC 161 would likely reduce harvest in state waters of the Central…