Kenai dipnet season closes after another strong sockeye run

The Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery closed at 11:59 p.m. Friday, ending a 2026 season that once again brought sockeye back to the river in numbers well above what managers require.

The fishery went out on a high note. The late run had reached about 3 million sockeye by late July — enough abundance that Fish and Game opened dipnetting around the clock in the season's final days, lifting the usual 6 a.m.-to-11 p.m. limit. For a household fishery that supplies Alaska residents with a year's worth of wild red salmon, the timing meant the strongest fishing landed right before the close.

That 3 million puts 2026 comfortably past escapement targets. Fish and Game manages the Kenai late run to a sustainable escapement goal of 750,000 to 1.3 million sockeye passing the sonar at river mile 19, with an inriver goal that can run as high as 1.4 million in a strong year. Recent seasons have routinely cleared that bar — and 2025 shattered it, finishing at roughly 4.3 million fish, more than triple the goal. The 2024 run came in near 1.9 million and 2023 around 2.4 million, so this year's return lands within the healthy range the Kenai has produced for several years running.

The season's fixed July 10-to-31 window reflects a deliberate tradeoff. Resident dipnetters get the weeks when sockeye are thick; the calendar then closes to protect the weaker king and silver runs that follow, with kings off-limits to retention throughout. The City of Kenai treats the run as a major event, standing up beach management, sanitation and public safety services at the river mouth for the duration.

Dipnetters who aren't done for the summer still have a nearby option: the Kasilof River personal use fishery stays open around the clock through Aug. 7. Permit holders from the Kenai fishery must report their harvest online to Fish and Game by Aug. 31.