Nonresident king salmon annual limit in Southeast rises to four fish Aug. 1

Nonresident King Salmon Limit Increases for August and September

Nonresident anglers fishing Southeast Alaska marine waters may keep one more king salmon this season, four instead of three, starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1 and running through 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the change Friday, citing lower than anticipated harvest in a sport fishery managed to stay within the region's harvest target of 43,600 king salmon.

The nonresident daily bag and possession limit stays at two fish 28 inches or longer, and kings kept before July 31 count against the new four-fish annual cap. Alaska residents fishing state waters keep a three-fish daily limit with no annual limit.

Immediately upon landing and retaining a king salmon, a nonresident must record the species, date and location on the back of the sport fishing license or on a nontransferable harvest record. In the exclusive economic zone, the waters between 3 and 200 nautical miles from shore, all anglers must follow the nonresident rules: a two-fish daily bag limit and a four-fish annual limit for king salmon 28 inches or longer.

Alaska News previously covered the July 11 increase that raised the nonresident daily limit to two fish, a change also driven by harvest tracking under the regional target.

What Stays the Same

Here is what does not change: the special hatchery-area rules near Juneau, Petersburg and Ketchikan still apply, and so do the wild-stock protections in Seymour Canal and the Ketchikan Area.

The department says it will continue to monitor the sport harvest of king salmon and that additional changes may be necessary. Troy Tydingco, the department's Southeast management coordinator in Sitka, is listed as the contact.

The sport fishery is managed to remain within the regional harvest target of 43,600 king salmon, and the department cited lower than anticipated harvest in raising the nonresident annual limit to four fish. The same arithmetic that opened this window can close it again.