Chitina dip net fishery cut to 96 hours as Copper River salmon run behind

The Chitina Subdistrict personal use dip net fishery will open for just 96 hours next week — Thursday, July 16 at 12:01 a.m. through Sunday, July 19 at 11:59 p.m., closed Monday through Wednesday. That's 72 hours shorter than the 168-hour opening recent sonar counts would normally trigger.

The reason is a salmon deficit that has shadowed the Copper River all season. As of July 5, 431,280 salmon had passed the Miles Lake sonar station — about 30,600 below the preseason projection for that date. Strong daily passage in late June and early July would ordinarily justify a full week of fishing, but ADF&G is overriding its own formula because overall passage stays below the management target and sockeye escapement goals may fall short without extra conservation.

"While the majority of the sockeye run is still ahead of us, I feel this current deficit supports conservative management," Area Management Biologist Tracy Hansen wrote in a July 12 report.

For anglers, king salmon and steelhead retention stays banned for the rest of the season — any caught must be released immediately and unharmed. The harvest limit is 25 salmon for the head of household and 10 for each dependent. All Alaska residents qualify with a Chitina Personal Use Salmon Fishery Permit and a valid resident sport fishing license. Harvest must be recorded on the permit and both tail-fin tips clipped immediately, before the fish leaves the site or is hidden from view.

ADF&G also asks dipnetters to respect private landowners and to follow the signs and detours along the O'Brien Creek to Haley Creek stretch of the Copper River Highway right-of-way, built in 2024 to avoid disturbing cultural sites. Violations could close the access road entirely.

If passage recovers into the target range, ADF&G says it will revert to the preseason schedule — so dipnetters should confirm conditions before driving out.