Redoubt Bay sockeye limits rise Wednesday as run projects past 40,000 fish

Subsistence households and sport anglers fishing Redoubt Bay and Lake near Sitka will see higher sockeye limits starting Wednesday, after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued an advisory announcement June 30 projecting a 2026 run that exceeds 40,000 fish, well above the management plan's upper escapement threshold of 25,000.

The changes, effective 12:01 a.m. July 1, raise the subsistence household possession limit to 25 fish and the annual limit to 100. Sport anglers get a 6-fish bag and possession limit. Seine and gillnet gear is now authorized for subsistence fishers north of a line approximately 100 yards from the base of the falls. The subsistence and sport limit increases are triggered by projected total escapement exceeding 30,000 fish; the gear authorization requires projected total escapement to exceed 40,000 fish, a threshold the current projection also clears. The corresponding emergency orders are 1S2426 and 1-RS-D-19-26.

The numbers behind the projection are concrete: the U.S. Forest Service weir at Redoubt Lake counted 7,791 sockeye through June 29, vessel surveys showed several thousand more fish holding near the falls, and ADF&G said historical run timing supports the projection above 40,000. The projected escapement exceeds the plan's upper threshold of 25,000 by more than 60 percent.

Participation Rules and Contacts

ADF&G reminded participants that no person may possess subsistence-taken and sport-taken salmon on the same day. Aaron Dupuis at the Sitka ADF&G office handles subsistence questions at (907) 747-6688; Troy Tydingco handles sport fish inquiries at (907) 747-5355.