Kuskokwim mainstem reopens early as six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum

Federal managers handed the Kuskokwim River mainstem back to the state nearly three weeks early after strong salmon counts — but six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum through July 31.

The closure covers the Eek, Kwethluk, Kasigluk, Kisaralik, Tuluksak and Aniak rivers, all inside the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Subsistence users can still fish those waters but must release any Chinook or chum; everyone else is barred from gillnets and from keeping either species. The Aniak Box remains closed until further notice.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shut down the mainstem and tributaries June 1 after a 2025 Chinook return 35 percent below the long-term average and six straight years of weak chum runs. This season broke the pattern: sonar counted 88,590 Chinook and 202,854 chum through July 12, with chum running well above average, and the agency returned the mainstem to state management July 13.

The Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the agency's co-manager, has pointed downstream, citing more than 1.3 million chum taken in 2025 Area M fisheries. Alaska News previously reported Kuskokwim households describing empty freezers under this season's closures.