A storied Alaska king run falls short again — the Nushagak goes catch-and-release Sunday

For generations, the Nushagak River has been one of Alaska's great king salmon runs — a Bristol Bay drainage that draws anglers from around the world for a shot at a trophy Chinook. This summer, there aren't enough of them. Starting Sunday, anyone sport fishing the Nushagak-Mulchatna drainage will have to let every king go.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the catch-and-release order Thursday, closing king retention from June 28 through July 31 across the entire drainage. Anglers can still fish, but any king has to go back in the water — a real loss in a place where the normal season allows four kings, including one of the big 28-inch-plus fish people travel for.

The reason is in the count. By June 24, just 6,240 kings had passed the Portage Creek sonar — well behind the pace the run needs to hit its escapement goal of 55,000 to 120,000 fish, the number that has to reach the spawning grounds to keep the run healthy. Kings keep arriving into July, so the season isn't over, but it's tracking short. The department is "taking a conservative approach," area management biologist Lee Borden said, to "put more fish towards achieving the escapement goal."

None of this is a one-year fluke. Alaska's king salmon have been in a long, broad slump, and the Nushagak — once a stronghold — has felt it too: the state flagged its kings as a "stock of concern" in 2022 after the run repeatedly came up short. That designation is what lets managers clamp down mid-season like this.

Whether the closure eases or tightens depends on what the sonar shows in the coming weeks. For now, on one of the state's most storied king rivers, the rule is simple: catch one if you can, then let it swim.