Specifications include, but are not limited to: To accomplish this objective, information on existing MSFs, current ADF&G Chinook management, research, and assessment programs, SEAK Chinook salmon sport fishery characteristics, SEAK enhancement operations, and fishery stakeholder input will be synthesized. A quantitative and qualitative cost-benefit analysis of MSF implementation under different scenarios will be conducted to inform recommendations to ADF&G, hatchery operators, and stakeholder groups in the context of domestic and international salmon management regimes.; This evaluation will be fundamentally collaborative, soliciting and incorporating input from stakeholders and ADF&G DSF management and research staff.; Facilitated meetings, conducted by the contractor, with stakeholder groups and ADF&G management and research staff will occur in each phase of the evaluation. Stakeholder feedback and ADF&G staff input will be critical to ensuring the real-world applicability of the assessment to fishery managers and researchers, hatchery operators, and fishing industry groups. The final format of the evaluation will be a written report delivered to the ADF&G. The final report will also be presented to stakeholder groups to promote a unified and consistent understanding of the challenges and opportunities present for MSF implementation in SEAK sport Chinook salmon sport fisheries.; The consultant will work closely with ADF&G DSF staff on all aspects of this project. The project will begin with a literature review which will summarize a spectrum of MSFs prosecuted within the geographical scope of the PST and include details on how these fisheries are typically planned for, managed, and assessed in-season, and evaluated post-season. The literature review will also present case studies describing the implementation and execution of MSFs in sport fisheries within and outside of the geographic scope of the Pacific Salmon Treaty.; Phase I will include a staff workshop to provide regional staff an opportunity to meet with the contractor to discuss results from the literature review, the existing SEAK sport fishery, and the region’s assessment projects. A program review will follow, examining how MSF implementation may affect facets of the SEAK sport fishery, including management, assessment, and enhancement.; A management framework review will examine both domestic and international obligations, regulatory complexity, public outreach and education, compliance, additional MSF reporting obligations (e.g., SFEC 2004), and potential unintended consequences of implementing a MSF in the SEAK Chinook salmon sport fishery. The Alaska Board of Fisheries regulatory process, involving and requiring public participation will need to be incorporated in the review.; The assessment program review will examine potential impacts to fishery monitoring and stock assessment programs. Current fishery assessment programs include marine harvest studies (creel) program (Jaenicke et al. 2022), Alaska Sport Fishing Survey (SWHS; Romberg et al. 2020), charter/guided logbook (Powers et al. 2015), and occasional area-specific creel projects (e.g., Yakutat and Haines area creels; Pawluk and Huang 2022, Chapell and Power 2015). Given potential additional data needs that MSF implementation poses (i.e., double index tag sampling), this program review may also include the SEAK commercial port sampling program (Reynolds-Manney et al. 2020). Current SEAK stock assessment programs that will be reviewed include both hatchery and wild CWT indicator stocks, which occur throughout the region.; The review of the SEAK enhancement programs will summarize current and anticipated levels of mass marking of Chinook salmon production in SEAK, including an examination of magnitude and composition of releases that occur throughout the region along with an evaluation of the level of marking required to effectively prosecute an MSF in the sport fishery that has the desired outcome of affording additional opportunity (effort) to harvest Alaska hatchery-produced Chinook salmon.; Upon completion of the program assessment a draft publication summarizing phase I of the project will be prepared. This draft will be disseminated to stakeholders, facilitated by the contractor, at four workshops that will be held around the region. The goal of these workshops is to communicate phase I results and provide stakeholders with an opportunity to evaluate information on potential MSF implementation and provide feedback. Feedback from these workshops will be synthesized and incorporated into a final report.; Phase II will begin with a second staff workshop held in Juneau. The contractor will meet with ADF&G staff to develop a framework to be used in the cost-benefit analysis. This cost-benefit analysis will utilize results from phase I to evaluate MSF implementation under a range of fishery and stock status scenarios with a continued focus on management, research/assessment, and enhancement.; The cost-benefit analysis will identify under what scenarios an MSF would provide additional fishing opportunity, while meeting wild stock conservation objectives. Potential costs will be estimated and are expected to vary depending on the implementation scenario. Results of Phase II will be documented in a final report.
