Yakutat set gillnetters must donate any Situk king that dies in the net

Yakutat set gillnetters working the Situk-Ahrnklin Inlet through noon Wednesday, Oct. 7, cannot keep a single Chinook salmon, for sale or personal use. Any king that comes up dead in the net must have its dorsal fin cut off and be given away. The rule applies during a commercial opening that began at 12:01 pm Sunday across most of the Yakutat District.

"Chinook salmon of any size may not be retained for sale or personal use," said the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announcement from Yakutat Area Management Biologist Rick Hoffman. A dead king is recorded on the fish ticket at landing with its number, weight and the disposition code "86-Donated," then goes to a buyer at the time of the sockeye sale or to the Yakutat ADF&G office for distribution to people in need in the community.

ADF&G's Situk River weir counted 219 Chinook this year before it was pulled Aug. 11, short of the escapement goal of 450 to 1,050 large kings and below a May 28 preseason forecast of 900. By the same date last year, the count stood at 1,290. Under the state's Situk king management plan, the inlet's set gillnet fishery may not keep kings until at least 450 large ones have passed the weir; a February 2025 Alaska Board of Fisheries change made actual weir counts, not projections, the guide. The inlet has been closed to keeping Chinook in commercial and subsistence fishing since May 30.

The Lost River remains closed until further notice. The Situk River mouth, including waters upstream of Johnson Slough, is closed west of a marker line running from Johnson Slough to Sunny Point. Dual permits, barred in June and July because the department did not expect the Situk run to reach a 750-king threshold, have been allowed since Aug. 2 in the inlet and in Yakutat Bay north of a line from Point Manby to Ocean Cape; the announcements do not explain the change. Fishers must notify the Yakutat office each time they start and stop fishing two permits.

The Yakataga District and the Kaliakh River are open from 9 am Sunday to 9 am Wednesday. The Tsiu River opened at 9 am Sunday, closes at 9 am Monday, then reopens at 9 am Tuesday for a final 24 hours; the Tsiu delta and the Seal River above its East Fork stay closed throughout. The rules are set in Emergency Order 1Y2226, and the Yakutat ADF&G office can be reached at 907-784-3255.