Manages Alaska's sport and commercial fisheries, hunting regulations, subsistence harvests, and wildlife conservation. Sets annual seasons, bag limits, and permit rules.
ADF&G's emergency order effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, July 1, raises subsistence household possession limits to 25 sockeye and annual limits to 100 fish at Redoubt Bay and Lake near Sitka, while sport anglers get a 6-fish bag limit, after projected escapement of more than 40,000 fish blows past the management plan's upper threshold of 25,000.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized revised migratory bird subsistence harvest regulations for Alaska on June 23, 2026, setting species-specific seasons and regional boundaries developed with Alaska Native representatives and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Alaska is raising the Kasilof sockeye limit to six fish as reds run strong, while tightening king salmon rules on the same river after four years of missed escapement goals.
Sport and personal use shrimp fishing in Juneau-area Section 11-A waters and Tenakee Inlet stays closed until further notice, while personal use king crab fishing reopens July 1 for Alaska residents — though Section 11-A, the Juneau home waters, remains closed to king crab as well.
ADF&G announced Monday that Board of Game regulations adopted for Southeast and Southcentral Alaska this winter remain in legal limbo with no completion date, while a printing failure has separately delayed physical harvest tickets for moose, caribou, sheep, deer, and black bear — a one-two punch hitting hunters as seasons approach.
Marine boat anglers returning to Craig or Klawock on Prince of Wales Island may not fillet, de-head, or mutilate lingcod, nonpelagic rockfish, or king or coho salmon at sea; ADF&G creel technicians are now on those docks collecting data that drives fisheries management across the island.
ADF&G is increasing the Wood River drainage sockeye bag and possession limit to 10 fish, effective 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, June 30, through December 31, 2026. The change follows projections that the sockeye run will exceed the escapement goal of 700,000 to 1.8 million fish.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted 2026 overfishing limits and acceptable biological catch levels for Aleutian Islands and Pribilof Islands golden king crab on Friday, confirming neither stock is currently subject to overfishing.
ADF&G is banning king salmon retention across the entire Nushagak-Mulchatna drainage from 12:01 a.m. Sunday, June 28 through July 31, citing a run that has put only 6,240 fish past the Portage Creek sonar through June 24 — well behind projection on a stock already designated a concern since 2022.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers issued a summons Saturday to a 29-year-old Wasilla man at Kasilof North beach for failing to record salmon on his Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use Permit before leaving — a reminder that on-site logging is actively enforced during the busy dipnet season.
Assembly member Zac Johnson has proposed letting state-licensed nuisance-wildlife operators use air rifles and air pistols inside city limits while performing licensed work. The ordinance would add an exception to existing municipal weapons code.
ADF&G confirms that cow moose attacks on people and pets defending calves are a recurring annual problem, making this a timely public safety story as calving season peaks through end of June.
The Ugashik District has landed 79,000 sockeye as of Monday, June 22, tracking above average for the date, as ADF&G's Bristol Bay Eastside Salmon Update #4 signals the run is still building and commercial schedules remain subject to rapid in-season change.
Sen. Dan Sullivan's new bycatch bill and challenger Mary Peltola's fisheries plan put trawling and salmon bycatch at the center of Alaska's 2026 U.S. Senate race.
Sockeye and king salmon fishing on the Nushagak River is rated poor as of Wednesday, June 17, but Area Manager Lee Borden says conditions should improve as runs continue arriving in Bristol Bay. No emergency orders are in effect.
This episode covers the week's major Alaska stories: a gas pipeline tax bill that added oil tax increases, the Point Thomson condensate trade-off for pipeline gas, Mount Edgecumbe enrollment crisis, and McNeil River bear sanctuary access proposals.
An Alaska Department of Fish and Game emergency order cuts the king salmon bag and possession limit to one fish across most Prince William Sound salt waters. King fishing has been reported as good near Cape Cleare on Montague Island, with a few fish also coming in Northwestern Prince William Sound.
ADF&G reduced the June 12–14 Chitina dipnet opening to 60 hours after Miles Lake sonar counted 30,412 fewer salmon than projected during the May 25–31 monitoring period. The cut removes 48 hours from the preseason schedule.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's June 25 fishing report for the North Gulf Coast and Resurrection Bay highlights excellent Pacific cod fishing inside the bay, fair-to-good king salmon conditions, and an active youth-only king salmon fishery in Seward Lagoon through July 31.
ADF&G extended the youth-only king salmon fishery at Seward Lagoon through 11:59 p.m. July 31, giving anglers 15 and younger more weeks to target hatchery kings that are not needed for broodstock, with a two-fish daily bag limit and harvest card required for kings 20 inches or longer.
Alaska is doubling nonresident king salmon limits in Southeast despite statewide king declines — a quirk of the Pacific Salmon Treaty quota, not a reversal on conservation.
The Alaska Board of Game is proposing regulations to govern hunting and trapping near the proposed 211-mile Ambler Road in Northwest Alaska, with public comment open until July 16.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is taking public comment and holding statewide listening sessions to shape how federal disaster relief funds get distributed across three fishery failures. Who gets money depends on who shows up.
ADF&G is opening the Russian River Sanctuary Area nearly four weeks early, starting June 18, after weir and sonar data project the 22,000-42,000 sockeye escapement goal will be met; fly-fishing-only rules and standard bag limits apply through July 14.
ADF&G doubled the sockeye bag limit at South Olga Lakes to 10 fish starting 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 26, after early-run escapement of 93,149 fish blew past the biological goal; the window closes July 15 before the late run begins.
Commercial fishermen face a second consecutive season under emergency king salmon retention restrictions while key Karluk and Ayakulik sections remain closed through mid-July, directly constraining early-season harvest opportunities and income for Kodiak's purse seine fleet.
ADF&G issued Emergency Order 2-RS-1-26-26 opening the Russian River Sanctuary Area to sport fishing at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, June 18, after weir data showing 7,512 sockeye through June 16 projected the biological escapement goal will be met; the opening runs through July 14.
The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly weighed a natural-resource excise tax on nonresident hunters and anglers and activated a Sourcewell cooperative purchasing account to cut costs.
Alaska closed king and chum salmon sport fishing across the Tanana drainage on weak Yukon forecasts, leaving Interior anglers to target dispersed pike on flooded Minto Flats.
With Copper River king salmon at their lowest recorded count, Alaska's ADF&G is cutting the Upper Copper sport limit from four fish to one through Aug. 10 to protect spawning runs.
Emergency orders have closed all king salmon fishing on the Kenai River from May 1 through August 15, 2026, including catch-and-release, while fishing for other species remains open under gear restrictions.
The state wants to clear 1,000 acres of forest to expand winter feeding grounds for the Delta bison herd. The project needs federal environmental review. Public comment is open through July 15.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed all Kenai River king salmon fishing, including catch-and-release, from May 1 through August 15, 2026, under emergency orders aimed at protecting weak salmon runs.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game opens the 2026 summer commercial red king crab fishery in Kotzebue Sound on June 15 with a 10,000-pound harvest limit, but no buyers have registered for the season, forcing permit holders to find their own markets or obtain catcher-seller permits.
ADF&G set the 2026/27 Aleutian Islands golden king crab TAC at 4.742 million pounds on Tuesday, a 13% increase over last season, with the fishery opening August 1 and running through April 30, 2027.
Emergency orders closed king salmon fishing across the Susitna River drainage, Little Susitna River, and West Cook Inlet, leaving the Eklutna Tailrace as the sole remaining location for king salmon harvest in Northern Cook Inlet during the peak third week of June.
ADF&G announced commercial set gillnet openings for the Igushik Section of the Bristol Bay Management Area beginning June 15, with initial 15-hour periods subject to market availability and run strength. Permit holders are advised to monitor official fishery announcements for potential timing adjustments.
ADF&G's Division of Sport Fish has scheduled youth-only fishing opportunities throughout summer 2026 in Southcentral and Southwest Alaska; families need to check the June Reel Times issue for dates, locations, and eligibility rules before heading out.
by Bill AlaskaNews7h ago2 min readAI
