Fish and Game ends Norton Sound commercial salmon season with no further openings

Norton Sound commercial salmon fishers will get no more openings this year. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday that commercial gillnet fishing remains closed for the rest of the 2026 season in Subdistricts 2 through 6, the Golovin, Elim, Norton Bay, Shaktoolik and Unalakleet grounds, ending late-season coho opportunity for permit holders and for the region's single expected buyer.

The department said catch rates during the most recent commercial periods were "below average to poor," and that salmon monitoring projects in the region are "generally inoperable." Before those projects went down, they were indicating marginal returns. Without escapement estimates, managers cannot confirm that a harvestable coho surplus exists. "The department is taking a conservative approach and will not announce additional commercial

fishing periods for remainder of the 2026 commercial salmon fishing season," the advisory said. Questions go to the Nome office at 907-443-5167.

The closure follows a month of openings authorized on narrowing information. Alaska News previously covered the Aug. 28-29 opening, which the department framed as a way to gauge coho abundance precisely because monitoring was down. Earlier August periods were authorized on catch rates and escapement data indicating a chum and coho surplus, with the Kwiniuk River tower the one project still running. The May 12 season outlook had already forecast a chum harvest of 5,000 to 25,000 fish, largely incidental to coho fishing, and one buyer operating in Norton Sound.

The department did not report a coho collapse. Its stated basis was marginal catch rates and the lack of reliable escapement estimates, which left managers unable to determine whether a harvestable surplus existed.

Commercial salmon periods can supply fuel, gear and household income in Norton Sound villages, where wage jobs are scarce. Subsistence schedules and restrictions are unchanged.