April 6, 2026 — Fishers in Southeast Alaska will be allowed to harvest 205,300 Chinook salmon this year, returning to a normal total after last year’s ultra-low harvest limit.
The Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest total, set in accordance with the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, was announced this week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Last year’s Southeast Chinook catch limit of 133,500 fish was the lowest in any year since the Pacific Salmon Treaty went into effect in 1985, according to the department.
Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, make up the smallest total harvest of Alaska’s five species of salmon. But they are also sold at a premium, usually fetching the highest market prices. Those that swim in Southeast Alaska waters are the subject of management from different jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, through the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The treaty is necessary because the fish are highly migratory and swim through and spawn in various locations, said Dani Evenson, Pacific Salmon Treaty and Arctic Policy Coordinator for the department’s Division of Commercial Fisheries.