Saving Seafood

Federal fisheries agency decides against listing Alaska king salmon as endangered

May 21, 2026 — Federal fisheries managers have determined that Gulf of Alaska king salmon are at low risk of extinction and don’t need to be listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision, announced May 13, results from a more than two-year study of Alaska chinook — including Southeast stocks — by a team of National Marine Fisheries Service scientists, with input from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as well as leaders of Alaska tribal governments and the public.

NMFS launched the review after the Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit, in January 2024 filed an Endangered Species Act petition, asking the fisheries service to list all Gulf of Alaska chinook stocks as endangered.

The conservation group pointed to long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska.

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., approved a settlement which ordered federal fisheries managers to issue a decision on the endangered petition by May 13.

Read the full article at Wrangell Sentinell

ALASKA: ADF&G restricts Kodiak salmon fishing again this summer

May 20, 2026 — The salmon runs on the Karluk and Ayakulik rivers on the southwest side of Kodiak Island have faced strict restrictions over the past few years, and this year is no different. Subsistence fishing for Chinook in the Karluk river is closed all year while sport fishing for kings on the Ayakulik and Karluk rivers is closed until July 25.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced these closures earlier this year citing the need to “protect returning king salmon and ensure future fishing opportunities.”

The department has also closed the entire west side of the island to Chinook sportfishing again from May 1 to June 30 to protect the returning Karluk Chinook, which numbered less than 100 fish in both 2024 and 2025. Both Karluk and Ayakulik Chinook have seen record low returns over the past years.

Read the full article at KMXT

Gulf of Alaska king salmon are not endangered species, federal government concludes

May 14, 2026 — The federal government has rejected a request to list three populations of Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered, according to a public notice scheduled for publication on Thursday.

The listing was requested in 2024 by a Washington state conservation group amid long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska.

If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state.

State officials opposed the listing, and in a written statement Wednesday morning, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said the decision means Alaska is managing its fish stocks well.

“This decision by NMFS Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler indicates strong support for Alaska’s management of natural resources,” he said. “Alaska became a state, in large part, to hold authority over our own natural resources such as fisheries. Since then, the sound science and fisheries management by our department has been recognized globally.”

The Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation group based in Washington state, had requested the listing in January 2024, citing climate change and competition from hatchery-raised fish.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: Board of Fish proposal would sub seines for setnets in commercial Cook Inlet fishery

April 29, 2026 — Alaska’s Board of Fisheries is considering a major change to the type of gear Cook Inlet’s east-side setnet fishermen can use when king salmon runs are poor. The group will take up a proposal Friday that would replace setnets with beach seines in the fishery’s management plan.

Fishermen would only be allowed to fish with beach seines when the state forecasts a run of at least 14,250 large king salmon. Currently, fishermen are allowed to use setnets when that threshold is met.

The proposed pivot to beach seines might seem like an abrupt about-face. But a small group of setnetters have been experimenting with beach seines for years now. Armed with an experimental permit from the state, a Kenai couple deployed custom seines on their setnet site to see if the gear could harvest commercial levels of sockeye salmon without killing king salmon.

Setnets catch when fish swim into and get their gills caught on the net’s mesh diamonds. That means caught fish are usually dead by the time they’re hauled onto the beach. Seine nets have smaller diamonds, though. They billow with the tide and scoop fish onto the beach – alive.

Read the full article at KDLL

ALASKA: Southeast back to an average harvest goal for king salmon after last year’s low

April 6, 2026 — Fishermen in Southeast Alaska will be able to harvest about 70,000 more king salmon this season than last year. The state Department of Fish and Game announced the harvest goal for all gear groups on March 31.

“It’s not, you know, a great catch limit, but it’s a decent catch limit,” said fish biologist Dani Evenson, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Even though it’s sort of an average catch limit, it came as welcome news, because last year was the lowest ever.”

How many king salmon Southeast Alaskans can catch each year is determined by the Pacific Salmon Commission. The group oversees a treaty between the U.S. and Canada that ensures both countries can harvest the fish.

Alaska’s take this year is 207,400 king salmon, also called Chinook. That amount is in line with recent years. . .except last year. Last year’s regional harvest goals plummeted because of lower salmon forecasts in other regions.

Read the full article at KSTK

ALASKA: Low king salmon forecast leads to multiple restrictions in Alaska

February 10, 2026. — Fishing for king salmon this summer will be highly restricted after the total run forecasts for the Deshka River, Kenai River early-run, Kenai River late-run and Anchor River all show low numbers.

“King salmon are experiencing a period of poor productivity and escapement goals are not likely to be achieved in 2026,” the Alaska Department of Fish and Game stated on Monday.

“It’s all within the vein of trying to conserve king salmon in Southcentral Alaska,” said Kristine Dunker, regional supervisor for Fish Game in Southcentral Alaska.

Dunker said the state hopes that by releasing the latest regulations in February, Alaska anglers will be have plenty of time to plan for the upcoming summer.

Read the full article at KTUU

ALASKA: UAF/ADF&G collaborate on king salmon smolt project

October 23, 2025 — A new study of king salmon smolt aims to track their trail from fresh water to the ocean to better understand the troubles facing this prized Alaska fishery.

The project, which began this past summer, is a collaboration between the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). It is funded by a $4 million federal earmark through NOAA to research juvenile king salmon.

Resources for studying king salmon have been largely focused on adult fish. This one will concentrate on those in the smolt stage, a relatively understudied period of development.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Alaska salmon harvest tops to 129 million fish

August 15, 2025 — Alaska’s 2025 commercial salmon harvest reached over 129 million fish through Aug. 12, with sockeye, keta and coho catches appearing on pace to reach total annual projections.

Those projected 2025 harvests would add up to 214.6 million salmon, including over 138 million pink, 52.9 million sockeye, 20.8 million keta, 2.3 million coho and 144,000 kings.

Data compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game showed the statewide pink harvest at 62.3 million fish, followed by 51.3 million sockeyes, 14.5 million chum, 888,000 coho and 150,000 king salmon.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: King salmon’s disappearance has changed the Kenai River, but a soaring sockeye run is keeping it in business

August 11, 2025 — A trio of anglers leaned on the edge of Jordan Carter’s boat in shallow water on the Kenai River last month, victoriously enjoying a cold beverage.

Their ride with Carter, a local fishing guide, was brief but bountiful. The group pulled in 18 sockeye salmon in a flash, easily reaching their limit with time left to enjoy the sunny day.

“He was 30 minutes, I was 45, and he was like 46,” Bryan Fanning said, pointing at fishing partners as he recounted the timelines for reaching their respective limits. “Coming up here and doing the sockeye, it’s great.”

It’s a different river from what Fanning recalls from his youth. The king salmon run that for so long was the centerpiece of the Kenai River has virtually dried up, with the fishery closed for a third straight summer.

Fanning remembers the family fishing excursions in the 1990s that could take more than a day to reel in a single king. Now living in Wyoming, his annual fishing trips north have become more eventful with the bustling sockeye fishery providing a reasonable alternative.

This summer’s late-run sockeye have been an absolute rocket ship, with multiple days of fish counts reaching over 240,000 in late July. By Thursday, the late-run sockeye count had passed 3.7 million, setting a new record amid a string of strong seasons.

The booming sockeye runs of recent years couldn’t have come at a better time, providing a lifeline for the fishing trade that has been the main economic driver on the Kenai Peninsula for decades.

The shift from kings has also shortened the fishing window — and with it, the associated tourism season — and brought a different demographic group to the region.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: State closes commercial king salmon troll fishery

July 10, 2025 — The Southeast and Yakutat commercial troll fishery for king salmon closed on Friday, July 4, as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game projected that the fleet would hit the harvest limit for the season’s first opener in just four days.

The target harvest set by the state for the opening which began on July 1 was 38,000 fish. State fisheries managers forecast the catch would total 37,700 kings as of the evening of July 4, pending a final count of fish tickets.

After the closure, all trollers are required to offload any kings before setting out gear for other salmon species.

The short opening was expected under this year’s more restrictive catch numbers, intended to preserve low salmon runs.

The commercial troll harvest limit for this year was set at 92,700 so-called treaty kings — salmon governed by the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty — a steep drop from last year’s limit of 153,000. Hatchery kings from Alaska facilities are excluded from the treaty.

Read the full article at Wrangell Sentinel