Alaska Peninsula salmon fishing keeps opening and closing as managers work around sockeye returns

Commercial salmon fishing along the Alaska Peninsula has been opening and closing in fits all season, as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game manages harvest around the area's sockeye returns. The department posted its 20th advisory of the year on Saturday for the Port Moller area.

ADF&G has framed the repeated closures as conservation and harvest management, not a permanent shutdown, tied to how the runs are coming in. The pattern goes back to mid-June, when the department closed the Bear River, Three Hills, Ilnik and Outer Port Heiden sections "until further notice" to let the Bear River late run build, while keeping Nelson Lagoon and Port Moller Bight open on short windows. Orders since have reopened and reclosed parts of the Ilnik Section repeatedly.

The stop-and-start schedule falls hardest on Port Moller-area permit holders. Closing some sections outright while limiting others to brief openings squeezes fishing time, catch and planning for permit holders, processors and crews alike.