Norton Sound subdistricts 2-6 open for one 24-hour coho period Friday

Commercial gillnetters in Golovin, Elim, Norton Bay, Shaktoolik and Unalakleet get one 24-hour window this weekend: 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, until 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued the order Tuesday under Emergency Order 3-S-Z-12-26, covering Norton Sound Subdistricts 2 through 6. The period is directed at coho salmon, with gillnet mesh restricted to 6 inches or smaller.

Salmon monitoring projects in the region are "generally inoperable," the announcement says, leaving the department to use this period to "continue to gauge coho salmon abundance in marine waters." Previous periods in these subdistricts had slightly below average catch rates, and additional coho periods may follow. The Kwiniuk River tower, the one project the department reported operating earlier this month, was the basis for the Aug. 15 opener. ADF&G's May management outlook projected a 2026 commercial coho harvest of 20,000 to 50,000 fish in Norton Sound.

This is the fifth opener covering Subdistricts 2-6 since Aug. 9: two 24-hour periods that first week, a 48-hour period Aug. 15 to 17, and a 24-hour period Aug. 20 to 21. Norton Sound has one commercial buyer expected this season, and the department reminds permit holders to secure a market before fishing.

Subsistence schedules, restrictions and closures do not change under this order. Some Norton Sound commercial fishers have argued in the past that short, 6-inch-mesh coho openings like this one amount to inadequate economic opportunity, a view this announcement does not address.