Kuskokwim closures lifted because the coho run ended, not because it recovered

Subsistence fishers on the Kuskokwim may use all legal gear again as of Friday evening, and keep both salmon and non-salmon species. Six weeks of restrictions came off, and the reason Fish and Game gave was not that the coho came back. It was that the run is over.

The department said the run "is mostly complete for the 2026 season and restrictions to the subsistence fishery are no longer necessary." Sonar finished counting with about 164,000 coho through Aug. 25, roughly 61 percent of the historical average of about 268,000.

The number the closures were built on has not been published. The Kogrukluk River weir, a counting fence across the river, carries a sustainable escapement goal of 13,000 to 28,000 coho. The reopening order says passage there "is below average and a total count is unavailable at this time due to high water events throughout the season." Whether the goal was met does not appear in that order, in the department's other Kuskokwim announcements, or on its escapement pages.

The first closure took effect Aug. 7, shutting gillnets, fishwheels, beach seines and dip nets from the mouth to Aniak after sonar counted about 43,000 coho, against an average near 106,500. Coho had not reached the weir yet, and the department said it was acting because it lacked escapement information.

It extended the closure upriver on Aug. 20. By then the weir had a number: 112 coho as of Aug. 16. The amount the Board of Fisheries has determined is necessary for subsistence is 27,400 to 57,600 coho. "It is unlikely that harvest will meet ANS this year," the department wrote. It also set the condition for lifting the restrictions, which was that abundance rise to levels likely to achieve escapement goals. Sonar added roughly 8,000 fish between Aug. 19 and the end of counting.

Both closure orders said the department would seek consultation from the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group. The group's published summaries for 2026 stop at Aug. 19, the day before the second closure, and none have appeared since. At that meeting six voting members were present and no quorum was established. Area management biologist Sam Decker asked the group for comments on proposed management actions. The summary's comments section is blank.

Members did report from the river. One said her set net was catching coho successfully. Another said fishers were catching few coho and mostly whitefish. A third relayed a tribal fish commission call at which fishers asked for more openers. A Division of Subsistence staffer told the group the survey project likely will not operate this fall.

Gillnets may run up to 50 fathoms and must carry a red buoy with the fisher's first initial, last name and address, and may not block more than half the width of any stream or channel.