Yukon families get chum back, but only in the tributaries

Families along the Yukon can take chum again, but only in the tributaries.

The tributaries hold mostly Alaska-bound chum. The mainstem carries the Canadian-origin run.

Fish and Game projects the overall drainagewide return above the top of its 300,000 to 600,000 escapement goal. A separate federal projection puts the Canadian-origin share at 31,000, against a border objective of 70,000 to 104,000. The state says Canadian treaty goals are not expected to be met at that run size, based on last season's stock performance and genetic data from this year's run.

Subsistence fishing for chum and nonsalmon opened around the clock Wednesday afternoon in every Yukon tributary except the Black River, starting 500 feet upstream from the mainstem or a mile inland from the coast. Gear is limited to selective methods, including manned fish wheels and dip nets. A matching federal opening on the Tanana covers only federally qualified subsistence users.

The mainstem and the Black River stay closed to Chinook, chum and coho, which must be released alive. Coho subsistence fishing is closed drainagewide. Pink and sockeye may be kept.

In the Coastal District and Districts 1 and 2, nonsalmon gillnets are capped at 4-inch mesh and 60 feet, fishable noon Thursday to noon Sunday. Personal-use chum fishing in Subdistrict 6-C opens Friday.

The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission says the closures continue devastating Tribal communities.