Kodiak's Saltery Cove anglers get their five-fish sockeye limit back after a thin July

Anglers fishing the Saltery Cove drainage on Kodiak can keep five salmon a day again starting Thursday, after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game restored the sockeye limit it had cut earlier in the season.

The run came in thin but sufficient. Through Aug. 12, some 18,536 sockeye had passed the Saltery River weir — into the lower end of the 15,000-to-35,000 escapement goal for Saltery Lake, and, with about 90% of the run typically past the weir by now, on track to reach the goal's midpoint. Area Management Biologist Tyler Polum called this year's run "much smaller than recent years" but on pace to hit the middle of the goal, making the restored limit "warranted."

The reversal follows a tight July, when counts lagged well behind. That earlier weakness prompted the department to expand closed waters in the Saltery Creek subsistence fishery, effective July 30, with only about 7,450 fish counted at the time. That closure runs until further notice and has not been lifted — so the subsistence restriction stands even as sport limits go back up.