Minto Flats Northern Pike Bag Limits Reduced

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Sport Fish Bag Limit Reduced for Minto Flats Northern Pike

(Fairbanks) –The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is reducing the bag and possession limit for northern pike in all lakes and flowing waters of the Minto Flats area, including the Chatanika and Tolovana River Drainages and Minto Lakes. Effective 12:01 a.m. Thursday, June 1, the bag and possession limit for Minto Flats northern pike is reduced to two fish, only one of which may be 30 inches or greater in length. This bag and possession limit reduction for Minto Flats northern pike will remain in effect through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, October 14, 2023.

Under the direction of the Minto Flats Northern Pike Management Plan (5 AAC 74.044), when the annual subsistence harvest, from January 1 until ice out, in the Chatanika River drainage upstream of the confluence of the Chatanika River and Goldstream Creek exceeds 750 fish, the sport fish bag and possession limit for northern pike is reduced to two fish, only one of which may be 30 inches or greater in length. From January 1 through April 28, the subsistence harvest of pike within that area was 1,072 fish, according to the Division of Commercial Fisheries, which manages the subsistence fishery.

“The Minto Flats Northern Pike Management Plan was written with conservation in mind, and the plan mandates that the sport and subsistence harvest will not exceed 20 percent of the overall population annually,” Tanana Area Management Biologist Andy Gryska said. “This emergency order is meant to protect the population from overharvest while still providing fishing opportunities for sport anglers during the open season.”

For additional information, contact Andy Gryska, Tanana Area Management Biologist, at (907) 459-7339 or andrew.gryska@alaska.gov.

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