Yukon District 6 subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho closes Saturday

Subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho salmon in Yukon River District 6 closes at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 15. Once the closure takes effect, anglers must release any Chinook, chum or coho salmon caught in selective gear immediately and alive.

Until then, subsistence fishing remains open around the clock with dip nets, beach seines and manned fish wheels for nonsalmon species and for chum, pink and sockeye salmon. Lake Minchumina and the Tolovana River drainage, including Minto Flats, stay open 24 hours a day for nonsalmon fishing with gillnets of 6-inch mesh or smaller. Nonsalmon fishing with 4-inch or smaller mesh gillnets reopens the same day on a weekly schedule, from noon Thursday to noon Sunday, with nets limited to 60 feet.

Personal use fishing for summer chum in Subdistrict 6-C closes at noon Wednesday, Aug. 12. The federal selective-gear summer chum retention period in Subdistrict 6-A expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued the closure as Emergency Order 3-S-FY-04-26, saying it is "using a precautionary approach." The fall chum run is projected above 400,000 fish, enough to meet the drainagewide escapement goal of 300,000 to 600,000. But the Canadian-origin component is projected at just 31,000 fish, far below the treaty objective of 70,000 to 104,000 fish, which the department says is why directed harvest stays closed. The coho run is projected below its historical average. The Board of Fisheries designated fall chum a stock of management concern and moved the fall season start three days earlier than normal.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a matching federal special action, TSA 03-FC-06-26. The agency's Yukon River in-season fisheries manager had opened federal public waters in Subdistrict 6-A to summer chum harvest using selective gear only, ahead of Friday's expiration.

The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission says repeated closures and gear restrictions are deepening food-security pressure for families who rely on the fishery.

A subsistence permit is required for salmon in Subdistricts 6-A and 6-B, including the Kantishna River drainage, and for northern pike in the Tolovana River drainage, including Minto Flats.