Yukon fall chum run tops 900,000 as fishing on Canada-bound stocks stays closed

Subsistence fishing is reopening upriver on the Yukon behind the largest fall chum run since the stock collapsed, but the fishery on salmon bound for Canada remains closed. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in Fall Update #8 released Tuesday, projects a run of more than 900,000 fall chum, nearly three times its preseason forecast of 311,000 and well above the drainagewide escapement goal range of 300,000 to 600,000 fish, the number meant to reach the spawning grounds.

Genetic analysis at the mainstem sonar near Pilot Station puts about 914,000 fall chum in the river through Sept. 7, above the median of 822,000 for that date.

Fall chum sampled from June 6 to Aug. 26 were 34 percent Border and US stocks, 15 percent Canadian and 51 percent Tanana Fall, with the Canadian share still well below its historical average of 30 percent. The Yukon River Salmon Agreement with Canada requires the department to be projected to meet treaty objectives before opening directed subsistence fishing in the mainstem: 70,000 to 104,000 fall chum at the border near Eagle, and 22,000 to 49,000 in the Fishing Branch River. At the Eagle sonar, run jointly with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 12,300 fall chum had passed as of Sept. 14, below the median of 23,500, with the run there only at its first-quarter point.

"Early projections of fall chum salmon headed to the Canada indicate that the border escapement goals may be met, however there is not enough certainty in our projections to identify a large enough harvestable surplus to support directed fishing on those stocks," the update said. A harvestable surplus is what is left once spawning targets are covered.

The run traces back to the two weakest escapements on record: 93,000 fish in 2021, the lowest ever counted, and 171,000 in 2022. The runs in between stayed weak, with 2024's roughly 165,000 the second lowest on record and 2025's 184,000 the fifth lowest, both far under the 1974 to 2024 average of 944,000. The 2026 coho run is projected at just 116,000 fish against a historical average of 212,000, though ADF&G says that is still enough to support some subsistence harvest.

The department is lifting restrictions district by district as the Canada-bound fish move past. Subdistricts 5-A and 5-B, including Tanana, open at 8 a.m. Wednesday, and Subdistrict 5-C, including Rampart, at 8 a.m. Sunday, both around the clock with 7.5-inch or smaller mesh gillnets and other legal gear. All fish caught may be retained, and gillnets are no longer capped at 60 feet. Subdistrict 5-D, which takes in the Teedriinjik and Porcupine rivers, stays closed to chum and coho, which must be released alive.

The fishing schedule line is 1-866-479-7387.