Weak Copper River runs bring king closures and a Chitina dipnet shutdown

Copper River salmon are coming in thin this year — both sockeye and kings are tracking weaker than Fish and Game expected — and managers are tightening the rules. Starting July 6, keeping king salmon is banned across Upper Copper River sport fishing through Aug. 10, with only unbaited, single-hook lures allowed. An earlier order had already cut the king limit from four fish to one.

The Chitina personal-use dipnet fishery is feeling it too. It's open through Saturday, July 5, then closes for a week — and dipnetters there have lost the ability to keep kings for the rest of the season.

Fish and Game is watching closely. Sonar counts at Miles Lake have been running below target, and the department warns that more time cuts, or even full closures, are possible if the trend holds and the sockeye spawning goal comes under threat.

Enforcement has been active, too: troopers issued five citations around Chitina in late June — for failing to record catch, keeping a king when barred, and fishing during a closure. The charges are allegations, and those cited are presumed innocent.