North Gastineau Channel closes to all sport fishing Sept. 1

Anglers in Juneau will lose the north end of Gastineau Channel for two months starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, September 1, when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closes those marine waters to sport fishing for all species, including catch and release. The closure runs through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, October 31, under Emergency Order 1-CO-E-28-26.

The closed water is the stretch south of a line drawn between the Salmon Creek Bridge and a regulatory marker across the channel on Douglas Island, and north of the Juneau-Douglas Bridge. Nothing may be targeted there, and no fish may be handled and released.

ADF&G attributes the action to low tag recoveries, a measure of how many hatchery fish are turning up in catches, and the low number of coho salmon that have returned so far to the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc. Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. The department projects a poor hatchery coho run not expected to meet broodstock goals in 2026, and says the closure is meant to push as many returning coho as possible up the hatchery ladder. If more fish show up than projected, ADF&G says the closure may be rescinded or the closed area reduced.

DIPAC said in an August 13 harvest update posted on its website that "DIPAC produced coho are showing up in very small numbers around the Juneau area & DIPAC is predicting a small return," and that only one DIPAC tag had been recovered in any fishery to that point. The hatchery's stated annual target is 800 coho, 400 male-female pairs, up the ladder for its fertilized egg production goal.

ADF&G's Juneau area sport fishing report ties the weak return to reduced production after the 2020 landslide that damaged the Macaulay Hatchery water intake pipe, with 2026 expected to be the last year affected. The Macaulay Hatchery Area has been closed to snagging and king salmon fishing through August 31. Montana Creek and Peterson Creek and Lagoon close to coho the same day for a different reason: those wild runs have missed their own escapement goals.

Daniel Teske, ADF&G's Juneau area management biologist, is the listed contact at (907) 465-8152.