Beach seines close Tuesday for subsistence fishers in Shaktoolik and Unalakleet

Subsistence fishers in Shaktoolik and Unalakleet must pull their beach seines out of the water by 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Nome closed the gear in Shaktoolik Subdistrict 5 and Unalakleet Subdistrict 6 under Emergency Order 3-Z-3S-26.

Gillnet fishing stays open. Marine and fresh waters of both subdistricts remain open to subsistence gillnetting with mesh size restricted to 6 inches or less.

The closure ends a window the department opened earlier this summer. An emergency order issued June 30 allowed beach seine gear from July 1 through Aug. 11, with king salmon non-retention. Any king caught had to go back in the water unharmed.

The gear swap is a conservation tool the department has used repeatedly in southern Norton Sound. At an Alaska Board of Fisheries Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim finfish meeting, Norton Sound Area Manager Kevin Clark described the practice. "We will close gillnetting in the marine waters and then open up beach seining and cast nets and dip nets in the Unukleet and Shaktoolik Rivers with a non-retention of king salmon," Clark said. He told the board the department does that often because of long-running king salmon concerns in those two drainages.

Those concerns have shaped several 2026 restrictions in the two subdistricts. The department's Norton Sound management outlook forecast weak Chinook returns and closed subsistence fishing in the marine and fresh waters of both subdistricts beginning June 15 for Chinook conservation. The North River escapement goal is 1,200 to 2,600 Chinook. Alaska News previously covered the department's order reopening marine waters to 6-inch gillnets, which noted escapement was weak and unlikely to meet objectives, and an earlier closure of king salmon sport fishing across Norton Sound fresh waters.

The announcement carries only the department's account. It includes no comment from Shaktoolik or Unalakleet fishers, and no local response appears in the material. Regional organizations including Kawerak, Inc. and the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation have publicly pressed to protect Norton Sound fish habitat and subsistence resources. Neither had commented on this closure as of publication.

Fishers with questions can reach Clark or Assistant Area Manager Luke Henslee at the Nome office at 907-443-5167 or 1-800-560-2271.