Alaska opens Chitina dipnet fishery despite Copper River run 55% low

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will open the Chitina Subdistrict personal use dipnet fishery for 60 hours starting noon Friday, June 12, even though the Copper River salmon run is tracking 52,648 fish below the lower cumulative management objective for June 1.

Through June 1, only 42,388 salmon had passed the Miles Lake sonar, 52,648 fish below the lower cumulative management objective of 95,036 for that date. The Miles Lake sonar is fully operational with both north and south banks up and running.

Subsistence fishers in the Glennallen Subdistrict, which opened by regulation June 1, report low catches from Chitina to Silver Springs since the opening. The Glennallen fishery remains open through September 30.

The Chitina fishery will close at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 14. The opening is authorized by Emergency Order 3-RS-I-05-26.

Permits and licenses are available online at the ADF&G store and at vendors in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and local communities. Glennallen Subdistrict subsistence permits are also available online and at ADF&G offices in Anchorage, Delta Junction, Fairbanks, and Palmer.