Deshka king run collapse forces Cook Inlet closures amid allocation fight

The Deshka River king salmon run is coming in so weak that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the Upper Cook Inlet Northern District to commercial salmon fishing on June 25, costing set gillnetters a full opener even though kings were likely still in the district.

Through June 21, only 2,738 kings had crossed the weir at river mile seven. ADF&G projects final escapement of 4,700 to 6,200 fish — less than half the minimum of the 9,000-to-18,000 sustainable goal. The shortfall was foreseeable: the February forecast pegged the run at 3,414 fish and warned kings were in "a period of poor productivity" unlikely to meet goals in 2026. Sport king fishing on the Susitna and Little Susitna is also closed.

The closure lands amid a broader allocation dispute. Proposal 186, before the Board of Fisheries, would confine the drift gillnet fishery to the Expanded Corridor to cut harvest of Northern Cook Inlet-bound stocks. Drift permit holders say further limits threaten the fleet's viability; the Mat-Su Borough and Northern Cook Inlet advocates say current limits don't do enough for stocks already below their goals.