Policing the world's biggest salmon rush

In the middle of the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery — where roughly 44 million fish are pouring into Bristol Bay this season and a fortune in salmon is caught in a matter of weeks — Alaska Wildlife Troopers are the ones making sure the rules hold.

Last week they cited five commercial fishermen in the Egegik District for three kinds of violations, all during the peak of the run. Two were cited for fishing during a closed period in Egegik Bay — the closures that space out the harvest and let enough fish escape upriver to spawn. Two more were cited for setting a drift gillnet too close to a set net, a spacing rule that keeps crews from crowding one another's gear in tight, crowded waters. A fifth was cited for grounding his vessel where he wasn't allowed.

The stakes behind the enforcement are the fishery itself. Bristol Bay is the most valuable wild sockeye run on Earth, with about 80 percent of the catch hauled in by drift gillnetters racing the same short window — a setup that only works if everyone fishes the open periods, respects the spacing, and stays off the closed ground. When millions of dollars ride on a few frantic weeks, the temptation to bend a rule climbs, which is exactly why troopers patrol it.

All five fishermen are presumed innocent, with arraignments set at Naknek District Court in early August.