Southeast anglers get a bump in the king limit

Visiting anglers in Southeast Alaska can keep more kings starting Saturday: the daily limit for nonresidents doubles from one to two, and the annual cap rises from two to three through Sept. 30. Fish and Game loosened the rules after finding the season's king harvest is running below its regional target — a modest bit of good news in a year defined by king restrictions.

The 28-inch size minimum stays, and anything already kept this season counts toward the annual limit. Resident rules in state waters don't change: two fish a day, no annual cap. And the state warned it could tighten the limits again if the catch pace speeds up toward the ceiling.

The area's various protections stay in place — the closures near Juneau's King Salmon River and in North Behm Canal, and Ketchikan's reduced resident limits through mid-August. So do the generous allowances for hatchery-raised kings at terminal spots like Herring Bay near Ketchikan and the Wrangell Narrows area near Petersburg, consistent with the season's pattern: restricted where the fish are wild, open where they're stocked.