Kenai River
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Kenai kings fell short again as a local panel starts reviewing plan changes
The Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee on Wednesday begins reviewing Board of Fisheries proposals for Upper Cook Inlet, including more than 30 that would change the plan for Kenai River late-run king salmon. The run met its recovery goal in 2025 and fell short again this year.
The plan aims for 14,250 to 30,000 large kings, those at least 75 centimeters, or about 30 inches, from mid-eye to tail fork. An estimated 15,641 reached the river to spawn in 2025, up from a record low the year before, according to the Department of Fish and Game. This year's estimate is 10,211, according to a department memo prepared for the Board of Fisheries in October.
The plan stays in effect until the goal is met three years in a row, or four of six years, with at least one of those years at 18,000 fish or more. Even then, the kings remain a stock of concern until the department recommends lifting that status and the board agrees.
While the plan is in effect, reaching 14,250 large kings takes priority over keeping Kenai and Kasilof sockeye under the top of their goals. If that number isn't projected, the Kenai River closes to sport fishing for kings. The river was closed to king fishing all season this year.
Most of the new proposals deal with the east side set gillnet fishery, a commercial fleet that fishes for sockeye off the Kenai Peninsula's beaches and also catches kings. The state closed the fishery in 2023. There was no setnet fishing in 2024, and the fleet got two eight-hour openings in 2025, the department says. Since 2024, setnetters have been allowed to use dip nets instead to catch sockeye.
In May, the board took set gillnets out of the plan and replaced them with beach seines, allowed when more than 14,250 large kings are forecast. A beach seine is anchored on shore and hauled back in, and keeping kings is prohibited. But setnet permits don't cover seines, and in June the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission split 1-1 on an emergency rule that would have allowed them.
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Stories on what’s next
Written Comments Due: CFEC Beach Seine Fishery Proposal
State commission again proposes letting Cook Inlet setnetters fish beach seines
The Board of Fisheries put Cook Inlet setnetters on beach seines. Their permits don't cover seines. The state's permit commission is trying to change that.
East Side Set Net Permit Reassignment Application Deadline
East side Cook Inlet setnetters must prove recent fishing to stay in the fishery
East side Cook Inlet setnetters get their own permit area Jan. 1. Want in? Prove you fished there between 2020 and 2024 and apply by Dec. 31.
Latest
October 2026
Kenai awards $98,000 contract to move shallow water line on eroding bluff
Kenai awarded Peninsula Construction $98,000 to move a water line on the bluff before it freezes and ruptures this winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kenai silver salmon derby canceled over unclear coho run data
Kenai Chamber canceled the 2026 Silver Salmon Derby over unclear coho run data, and Fish and Game cut the daily coho limit to two fish through November.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
September 2026
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by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read
The Kenai's coho limit stays at two through November
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Kenai's council will award a bluff erosion contract the day after bids close
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The state held Kenai coho at two a day through November
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Sullivan's bycatch bill reaches its first Senate committee test
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More from Kenai River
The Kenai coho limit stayed at two when it was supposed to go to three
Kenai River anglers expected the coho limit to rise to three fish on Sept. 1. It stayed at two instead, and will stay there through November.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Kenai man says a gravel company mislabeled a salmon stream on his land
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August 2026
Kenai anglers won't get the extra coho they were expecting this fall
Kenai River anglers won't get the usual bump to three coho on Sept. 1 — the limit stays at two through November as silver runs look weak across Cook Inlet.
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Ninth Circuit upholds federal Cook Inlet salmon management against drift fleet challenge
Cook Inlet drift fishermen lost again in federal court. The fight over who actually gets the fish moves back to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Two Anchorage boaters spend a night on Skilak Lake after rough water stops the crossing
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Three anglers cited for over-limit sockeye on the Middle Kenai River
Three anglers were cited Aug. 1 on the Middle Kenai River for keeping more sockeye salmon than the limit allowed; the excess fish were seized and donated.
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Eklutna Tailrace closes stretch to anglers 16 and older Saturday
Alaska Department of Fish and Game closes a stretch of Eklutna Tailrace to anglers 16 and older on Saturday, Aug. 15, to give kids 15 and younger a youth-only coho salmon fishery from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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About Kenai River
The Kenai River is a glacially fed river on the Kenai Peninsula in Southcentral Alaska. It flows from Kenai Lake through Skilak Lake and Soldotna to Cook Inlet, and the Russian River joins it along the way.
The river is known for its king and sockeye salmon runs, which draw large numbers of anglers, and for a personal-use dipnet fishery near its mouth. Fish and Game sets bag limits and closures for kings, sockeye and coho, and Alaska Wildlife Troopers cite anglers for keeping snagged fish, taking too many or fishing after hours. Weak king runs and uncertain coho counts are recurring questions.
Kenai salmon are shared with Cook Inlet's commercial set gillnet and drift fleets, so allocation fights before the Board of Fisheries and in federal court reach the river. Public access along its banks, including easements that end at the water, and erosion of riverbanks also shape life along it.
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by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Father and daughter rescued by boat from Kenai River island at mile 73
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Troopers cite three anglers for keeping snagged sockeye on the Kenai
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Ship Creek jumps to six salmon a day as coho pour in
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by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Kenai dipnet season closes after another strong sockeye run
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by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A visiting angler was found dead in the Kenai River near Sterling
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by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
July 2026
The state ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow
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by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Troopers cite 12 dipnetters on the Kenai in one day
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A busy week on the Kenai brings a run of fishing citations
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So few kings are left in the Situk that the state closed their last pool
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June 2026
On the Kenai, a cabin tests the river's 50-foot buffer
As peak season packs the Kenai, a company wants to build a cabin inside the 50-foot buffer that keeps development off the river's salmon-bearing banks.
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Kenai, Russian River Sockeye Bag Limit Jumps to 6 Fish Thursday
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Russian River Sanctuary opens Thursday as sockeye goal met
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The Mat-Su Valley's king salmon fisheries are closed — Anchorage's closest king water joins the Kenai on the bench
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The Kenai's kings are closed again — another summer without Alaska's most iconic salmon
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by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
May 2026
Kenai River king salmon fishery closed through mid-August 2026
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by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min readFrom 
Anchor River Chinook Peak Shifts Two Weeks Later, Data Shows
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by Alaska News6mo ago2 min readShoulder-to-Shoulder Anglers Pack Kenai River as Salmon Runs Peak
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by Alaska News6mo ago3 min read