A regional planning team is working to draft a Kodiak regional comprehensive salmon plan. The plan will guide decision makers in future efforts to maintain suitable harvest goals, supplement natural salmon production and to rehabilitate Kodiak salmon stocks.

The planning team is comprised of three representatives from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and three representatives from the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association (KRAA). In addition to the six voting members, the team has a non-voting chairman and several ex-officio members. Lorne White, retired ADF&G fishery biologist, has been contracted to write the new plan.

Kodiak’s first salmon plan was approved in 1984. That plan, with revisions in 1987 and 1992, applied to the years 1982 through 2002.

The plan set salmon harvest goals for both natural and supplemental (enhanced) runs and prioritized rehabilitation and enhancement projects for the Kodiak management area.

The harvest objectives set goals for each salmon species. The harvest goals in the initial plan were met, and the 1992 Phase II revision established higher goals. Since 1992, natural harvest of sockeye and even year pink salmon were on target. Chinook, coho and odd-year pink salmon were above expected harvest, while chum salmon were below target.

Supplemental harvest goals were not met on average for any species from 1998-2007, with the exceptions of 2001 and 2005, when odd-year pink salmon goals were met.

The original salmon plan called for seven hatcheries in the Kodiak management area. KRAA expanded the Kitoi Bay Hatchery and built the Pillar Creek Hatchery. In terms of financial return on money invested, for every dollar spent at the Kitoi Bay Hatchery there is a return of $2 in value. The return is $4 at the Pillar Creek Hatchery, where higher-value fish are reared.

Additionally, several enhancement projects were undertaken, including: establishment of the Spiridon Lake sockeye run; fertilization of Karluk, Frazer and Afognak lakes; coho salmon stocking on Afognak and Spruce islands, Port Lions and the Kodiak road system; stocking of chinook salmon into Monashka Creek, American River and Lake Rose Tead; and stocking of sockeye in Afognak, Malina, Waterfall and Kitoi lakes.

The original comprehensive plan listed 120 tasks to be completed, and of those, more than 80 have been undertaken.

“The comprehensive plan demonstrates public support for a proposed project. It gives managers leverage in getting approval and funding,” White said.

The regional planning team will travel to local villages to get input from the public on priorities of use and ways to sustain and increase salmon. The team recently visited Ouzinkie for a public meeting.

The planning team drafted a public survey as a way to elicit comments and suggestions from the public. The survey is available at the KRAA office on Center Avenue.

Once a draft plan is written, the team will hold public meetings and take comments before submitting the final plan. The final comprehensive plan is scheduled for completion in June 2010.