August 1, 2013 — The statewide salmon harvest estimate through July 30 was 98 million fish, including 1.2 million cohos, 28 million sockeyes and 55 million pinks.
As sockeye runs wind down, fishermen are turning to silvers and pinks.
Sport fishermen in Southcentral are also targeting cohos, but the opening of those fisheries has brought restrictions.
For the Kenai River, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced July 30 that bait and multiple hooks were prohibited on the lower Kenai.
That’s to conserve Kenai king salmon, which have had a poor return this year.
Through July 29, 11,746 late-run kings were counted on the Kenai, behind the 15,625 counted through the same day in 2012. The lower end of the escapement goal is 15,000 kings and ADFG has closed sport and East Side setnet fisheries based on a projection the goal will not be met.
The July 29 count was 803 kings, the second largest single-day return this year.
Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce