Commercial fishing opens in Kuskokwim Bay as subsistence fishing closes

Commercial fishing opened Monday in Kuskokwim Bay's Districts 4 and 5, near Quinhagak and Goodnews Bay, under a state emergency order that runs through July 17. At the same time, subsistence fishing closed in both districts, and stays closed until Saturday.

That trade-off carries weight here. Along this stretch of coast, in predominantly Yup'ik villages, salmon is winter food, and the region has been living through a years-long collapse in Chinook, chum, and coho runs that a tribal fish commission has called a food-security, cultural, and ecological crisis. Every summer opening is measured against the freezers that need filling before freeze-up.

State biologists are watching how these first commercial periods perform and will open more if the fish are there. For now, the window is a short one — five days of commercial fishing, with subsistence set to reopen July 18.