Seven-member citizen board setting Alaska's sport, personal-use, subsistence, and commercial fishing regulations statewide. Meets in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and regional hubs annually.
adfg.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
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August 2026
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes as the Canadian-bound run comes in far below treaty levels
Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes Saturday as the Canada-bound run falls far below treaty levels, deepening food-security strain for families.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Sand Point fishermen get 61 hours on the water — in a fishery the rest of Alaska watches closely
Sand Point fishermen get 61 hours on the water — in an Area M fishery watched across Alaska for catching chum bound for the struggling Yukon and Kuskokwim.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Upper Cook Inlet reopens to a one-king limit after a spring closure
Upper Cook Inlet anglers north of Bluff Point can keep one king salmon from Aug. 16 through Sept. 15, after a closure meant to protect declining king stocks.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Yukon salmon conservation rules are now locked into state regulation, not left to managers' discretion
Yukon salmon conservation is now binding state regulation — fixed thresholds that keep the river's own commercial and much subsistence fishing closed.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair days before a bycatch-shaped election
Days before the final vote, the Bering Sea pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair — as salmon bycatch, and a new mandatory chum cap, roil the 2026 campaign.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Alaska's one-boat state crab fishery reopens as offshore quota rises
Alaska's tiny state-waters golden king crab fishery reopens — one boat fished it last year — while the far larger offshore quota climbs 13%.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
July 2026
The state ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow
Alaska ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow, deepening a years-long squeeze on a fishery it controls in state waters.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Aleutians East newsletter flags fisheries as defining issue in 2026 Alaska races
Aleutians East Borough won a legal fight over salmon fishing rules in May and is now directing voters to check where candidates stand on fisheries in the 2026 governor, Senate, and House races.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska closes District 4 subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho starting Wednesday
Alaska closes subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho salmon in District 4 starting Wednesday because the 2026 run is projected too weak to meet Canadian treaty obligations.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Kotzebue Sound fishing ban near airport runway takes effect with July 10 commercial opening
Kotzebue's first commercial salmon opening July 10 now runs under a permanent fishing ban near the airport runway that blocks both commercial and subsistence nets to keep birds away from planes.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Alaska Peninsula Bering Sea drainages: non-residents banned from keeping king salmon starting July 18
Non-resident anglers cannot keep king salmon in Bering Sea drainages starting July 18, while Alaska residents get a one-per-day limit.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska lawmakers order audit of Board of Fisheries process
Alaska lawmakers voted unanimously to audit the Board of Fisheries' process after the Attorney General overturned five regulations citing ethics violations.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Bristol Bay tightens the rules on its king salmon again
Bristol Bay's kings keep sliding, so the rules keep tightening: fewer big fish on the Naknek, no bait on the Nushagak, and log every keeper in ink.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Too many young fish shut Sand Point's seiners out of the Shumagins
Sand Point's seine fleet is shut out of the Shumagin Islands — test nets found immature sockeye at triple the closure threshold — as a lawsuit over the rules plays out.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Weak kings, strong chum: the Yukon's salmon rules split by the run
On the Yukon this week: kings are weak so restrictions continue, summer chum is strong so openings arrive, and fall chum has slipped enough to close the Lower Yukon early.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Coming up
Seldovia Fish and Game Advisory Committee Meeting
Seldovia Multipurpose Room, 206 Seldovia Street, Seldovia, AK, and Zoom (Meeting ID 836 3476 3433, passcode Seldovia) or phone (253) 215-8782
Meeting
Upper Tanana Fortymile Fish and Game Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting
Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting
Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting
Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting - Lower Cook Inlet Proposals
Meeting
About Alaska Board of Fisheries
adfg.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
The Alaska Board of Fisheries is the seven-member citizen board that sets the state's sport, personal-use, subsistence and commercial fishing regulations. It is part of the State of Alaska and works with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which manages fisheries under the rules the board adopts.
The board takes up public proposals on a regional cycle, meeting in Anchorage and in regional hubs such as Bethel and Dillingham, and holds work sessions to decide which off-cycle proposals to hear. Recurring questions concern allocation among commercial, sport and personal-use fishermen, protection of weak salmon stocks in mixed-stock fisheries, and gear and area limits such as commercial nets near the Homer Spit and trawling near Kodiak.
Its management plans govern fisheries from Cook Inlet setnets and Kenai River kings to Western Alaska salmon. Under those plans, the department opens and closes fisheries by emergency order as runs come in.
More from Alaska Board of Fisheries
June 2026
On the Wood River, so many sockeye are coming back that the state wants you to keep more
Good news for once on the water: the Wood River sockeye run near Dillingham is so strong the state doubled the limit to 10 fish a day, through year's end.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak seiners back Kreiss-Tomkins for governor
A Kodiak seiners' group endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins for governor on a fisheries platform — though "restore balance to the Board of Fish" means very different things to different fishermen.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Copper River Kings Hit a Record Low — and Limits Drop
The Copper River's king run is the worst on record, so Alaska is cutting anglers from four fish to one — betting this summer's catch against next year's spawn.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
NOAA Fisheries declined to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook under the ESA
NOAA decided Gulf of Alaska Chinook don't qualify for ESA listing — even as Chinook closures pile up across Alaska systems.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min readFrom 
ADF&G issues Sand Point commercial salmon fishery advisory #05
Alaska's acting attorney general voided five South Peninsula salmon rules adopted in February over ethics violations before they took effect. • Sand Point seine fleet now fishes under older rules while the Board of Fisheries decides whether to readopt the restrictions. • The voided rules would have cut fishing time and area for seine and gillnet gear in the Shumagin Islands and South Unimak.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Alaska sport fishing rules frozen despite new booklets
Alaska anglers should follow 2025 fishing rules, not the new 2026 booklet, because several regulations printed there haven't received final legal approval yet and remain unenforceable.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
The Mat-Su Valley's king salmon fisheries are closed — Anchorage's closest king water joins the Kenai on the bench
Alaska closed all king salmon fishing in Mat-Su Valley drainages, shutting down Anchorage's closest king fishery as the first fish arrived. • The closures follow four years of declining runs and emergency restrictions nearly every season since 2022. • Mat-Su and Kenai rivers, Southcentral's two main king fisheries, are now both closed for 2026.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
The Kenai's kings are closed again — another summer without Alaska's most iconic salmon
Another year with King closures and no easy answer in sight
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
May 2026
Kenai River king salmon fishery closed through mid-August 2026
Kenai River king salmon fishing closed May 1 through August 15, 2026 under emergency order. Third consecutive year of full closure due to conservation concerns. Other species fishing allowed with single-hook lures only. Nearby Kasilof River open to limited hatchery king salmon fishing.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min readFrom 
Mat-Su king salmon fisheries closed amid conservation concerns
Alaska closed king salmon fishing in Susitna River, Little Susitna River, and West Cook Inlet through July 2026 due to low salmon numbers. • Gear restrictions apply to all fishing in those drainages, even when targeting other species. • Eklutna Tailrace opens late May with king salmon available if you buy a stamp. • Rainbow trout and northern pike fishing open at other Mat-Su lakes.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min readFrom 
Alaska AG voids contested Area M salmon regulations after ethics challenge
Alaska attorney general voided five salmon regulations after board members failed to disclose conflicts of interest. • Fishing groups won relief through ethics enforcement instead of court. • Regulations would have restricted fishing time and added chinook catch closures. • Board must restart the process to readopt any rules.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago3 min read
Nome subsistence salmon fishers face new weekly schedule, 25-fish limits
Alaska Fish and Game set a Wednesday-to-Monday subsistence fishing schedule and 25-fish household limits for Norton Sound salmon in 2026, citing conservation concerns across the region.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago3 min readKarluk River Chinook Collapse Triggers First Subsistence Closure
Alaska closed the Karluk River to subsistence Chinook salmon harvest through December 2026 after escapement crashed to 93 fish in 2025, far below the 3,000 to 6,000 fish goal.
by Alaska News6mo ago2 min readNew sport fishing rules clarify handling of rockfish, salmon, lingcod
Alaska's 2026 sport fishing rules require anglers to keep rockfish, lingcod, and king salmon identifiable by skin until leaving the water.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago2 min readBoard of Fish Nominees Face Questions on Public Process Erosion
Three Board of Fisheries nominees pledged Tuesday to restore public trust after the board made an out-of-cycle Cook Inlet salmon gear decision despite 280 opposing comments.
by Alaska News6mo ago3 min readChignik King Salmon Meets Escapement Goal After Six-Year Drought
Chignik River king salmon hit the escapement goal in 2025 for the first time since 2019, but the state is still weighing whether to ease the fishing restrictions that helped the recovery.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago6 min read
Board restricts Cook Inlet drift gillnet fishery to protect coho salmon
Alaska's Board of Fisheries voted Friday to restrict Cook Inlet drift gillnet fishing to protect coho salmon, limiting the fleet to two 12-hour windows per week and a 2-mile buffer from shore.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago4 min read
Board Sets Fish Wheel Rules, Recovery Goals for Yukon Salmon
Alaska's Board of Fisheries set fish wheel standards and recovery goals for depleted Yukon River salmon, requiring five consecutive years of meeting escapement targets before stocks can be delisted.
by Alaska News6mo ago5 min read
April 2026
Board Chair Survives Ethics Challenge Over Village Corporation Ties
The Board of Fisheries voted 6-0 to let Chair Marit Carlson-Van Dort vote on Area M proposals despite questions about her corporate ties.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago3 min read
Alaska Fishery Debates Reflect Broader Tensions Over Mixed-Stock Management
Alaska fishery managers debated how to protect struggling salmon stocks when healthy and depleted fish migrate together, with proposals ranging from gear restrictions to area closures.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago6 min read
Board Restricts Fishing Gear to Protect Chinook in Chignik, Area M
Alaska Board of Fisheries restricted seine net depth in Chignik to protect struggling Chinook salmon, effective 2027, after the local fleet voluntarily requested the limits.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago4 min read
Board Cuts Area M June Salmon Fishing Time 30% to Protect Yukon-Bound Chum
Alaska's Board of Fisheries voted 4-3 to cut June salmon fishing time in Area M by 30 to 39 percent, removing industry catch limits to protect chum and kings bound for Western Alaska rivers.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago4 min read
Board of Fisheries Opens Statewide Meeting With Stock Concern Action Plans
The Alaska Board of Fisheries met March 17 to weigh management plans for struggling Western Alaska salmon stocks.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago6 min read
Board considers trawl gear restrictions in Aleutian Islands state waters
The Alaska Board of Fisheries delayed a decision on banning large trawlers from Aleutian state waters to weigh habitat concerns against a potential 7 million dollar processing deal.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago3 min read