Yukon fall salmon subsistence fishing closes as the run falls short

Subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho closes at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Aug. 10, in the Yukon waters serving Stevens Village, Beaver, Venetie, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek and Fort Yukon. Upriver, in the subdistrict that includes Circle and Eagle, it closes Aug. 15. Any Chinook, chum or coho caught in selective gear must be released alive. Fish and Game says directed subsistence fishing for fall chum on the mainstem Yukon is highly unlikely for the rest of the season.

The run is enough to clear the drainagewide escapement goal, with a projected 400,000-plus fall chum against a goal of 300,000 to 600,000. But the treaty goals for fish reaching Canada aren't expected to be met, and passage at the Pilot Station sonar was running well behind the median for early August. Coho are expected to come in well below their 212,000-fish average.

These closures cap a season of restrictions that marched steadily upriver, closing District 3 in mid-July and moving through the 4-A, 4-B and 4-C subdistricts and the Koyukuk River over the following two weeks.

For the villages along the river, the repeated closures sit inside a long decline in Yukon Chinook and chum returns that managers have tied to ocean conditions, freshwater stressors and marine bycatch. "For decades, Yukon River fishing communities have dutifully borne the brunt of conservation measures for Yukon salmon. Today, despite near total closures of in-river Yukon salmon fishing, the declines continue," the Tanana Chiefs Conference said in a statement, describing a decline that has forced member Tribes to "drastically alter their food security strategies."

Nonsalmon fishing continues on a weekly schedule with gear restrictions, and a subsistence permit is still required in parts of the closed subdistricts. Separately, personal use fishing for summer chum around Fairbanks, North Pole and Salcha closes at noon Wednesday, Aug. 12.