No Kuskokwim River commercial fishery this year: a full look at the 2026 salmon season

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game offered no commercial salmon fishing on the Kuskokwim River this year, according to a preliminary season summary the department released Tuesday. It's the first year without a river fishery since at least 1998, when a department harvest table begins.

No buyers or processors operated on the river. And while chum and sockeye runs were strong, the summary says, Chinook and coho were below average and subsistence harvests were limited, so the state "was unable to offer commercial harvest opportunity."

Subsistence harvests came up short too. The state projects this year's Chinook harvest at about 30,560 fish, less than half the low end of the amount it lists as necessary for subsistence.

Down the coast, Kuskokwim Bay had its first commercial fishery since 2021.

No buyer on the river

The Kuskokwim has had no large-scale commercial processor since 2016, according to a department report. Last year, also without a buyer, the department opened August coho periods to fishermen registered to sell their own catch. This year there were no openings at all.

There was no sport harvest of river Chinook either, Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang wrote in a Sept. 15 letter to NOAA Fisheries.

Subsistence fell short

Vincent-Lang's letter projects a total Chinook harvest of 30,560. The state lists 67,200 to 109,800 as the amount necessary for subsistence. Last year's harvest was 52,367.

That projection is scaled up from partial counts taken during the season. The department's door-to-door survey of subsistence harvests, which produces the only estimate of the total, didn't happen this year because of a loss of funding.

Other species fell short as well. Chum harvest "was not close to meeting the amount necessary for subsistence," and coho harvest also came up short, according to an Oct. 7 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service memo.

Federal managers ran subsistence fishing on the lower main stem from June 1 to July 13. A federal emergency action closed the river to coho harvest and gillnets from Aug. 12 to Sept. 15.

Fewer Chinook, but the spawning goal was met

The preliminary Chinook run estimate is 117,811, below the forecast of 128,000 to 200,000. The estimate's margin of error reaches the bottom of that range.

Escapement, the fish that get past the nets to spawn, still met the river-wide goal. An estimated 87,251 Chinook made it, inside the goal of 65,000 to 120,000 but the lowest count since 2014.

The department estimated Chinook escapement at only one weir, on the Kogrukluk River, compared with four last year. High water and poor survey conditions kept it from getting reliable numbers at most weirs, Vincent-Lang wrote.

The Kogrukluk weir missed its goals for all three species it counted: 3,231 Chinook, 3,992 sockeye and 11,362 chum, each below the low end of its range. Coho escapement wasn't estimated anywhere.

More chum, fewer sockeye

The sonar near Bethel counted a split season. About 558,000 chum passed, more than double the 2018-2025 average and the most in the department's table. Sockeye came in at about 498,000, the fewest in the nine years listed. Coho reached about 164,000, against an average of about 268,000.

The Fish and Wildlife Service memo calls the sockeye run "lower than the 5-year average but still abundant to allow for fishing opportunities."

A bay fishery returns

Kuskokwim Bay's commercial fishery ran July 7 to July 31 and targeted sockeye, with 20 periods in District 4, near Quinhagak, and 21 in District 5, near Goodnews Bay. Department announcements list one registered processor, WildFish Marketing.

Some of the openings went to coastal residents affected by Typhoon Halong, the summary says. The Bethel Community Services Foundation bought Chinook and chum caught along the way for food bank protein boxes.

How many fish were caught, and what they were worth, is confidential because fewer than three processors registered. In 2021, the last year with published figures, 74 permits fished in District 4 for a catch worth about $357,000, and 13 fished in District 5 for about $136,000.

The department delayed the opening to protect Chinook and closed parts of both districts for the first two periods. Commercial openings generally came with a subsistence closure in the same district.

Spawning counts from the air came in above goal for sockeye on both rivers: 55,260 on the Kanektok and 50,344 on the North Fork of the Goodnews. Chinook were within the goal on the Kanektok, at 4,968, and just above it on the North Fork, at 3,541.

What it means for the pollock fleet

The Kuskokwim, Upper Yukon and Unalakleet counts feed a three-river Chinook index, which came to 155,860. That's below a 250,000 threshold, and the Kuskokwim makes up about three-quarters of it.

Vincent-Lang wrote that puts the Bering Sea pollock fishery, whose nets also catch Chinook, under a low performance standard and a hard cap on Chinook bycatch next year. NOAA Fisheries lists this year's limit as 45,000 Chinook.

Relief for 2022

Separately, the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission said Tuesday that applications are open for relief from the 2022 Kuskokwim fishery disaster. Relief checks total $298,728.

Commercial permit holders may apply Nov. 16 through Feb. 15, 2027, and subsistence households have until Feb. 23, 2027. Applications are online only, and the commission's post explains how to apply.

All of the department's 2026 figures are preliminary. It hasn't announced when final numbers or the 2027 forecast will come out.