Chitina dipnetters can keep sockeye but must release every king

Dipnetters heading to Chitina when the fishery opens Friday can still dip for sockeye, but every king they catch has to go back in the water for the rest of the season. The Copper River's sockeye and king runs are both coming in weaker than expected.

The catch-and-release order on kings covers the Upper Copper sport fishery too. What it doesn't cover is the subsistence fishery upriver in the Glennallen Subdistrict, which stays open through September with no such restriction.

Some Chitina dipnetters and Copper River anglers argue the repeated king bans land hardest on personal-use and sport fishers while the subsistence fishery fishes on. Federal subsistence managers have noted the same split. But state law gives subsistence a priority claim on a limited run, which is why it is the last fishery cut.

Everyone agrees a weak run means someone fishes less. The disagreement is over which fishery absorbs the cut first, and it gets settled in emergency orders rather than public debate.

The Chitina fishery runs on weekend windows through August, and sockeye fishing stays open across the drainage.