Manages Alaska's sport and commercial fisheries, hunting regulations, subsistence harvests, and wildlife conservation. Sets annual seasons, bag limits, and permit rules.
Prince William Sound commercial fishers closed out the 2026 sockeye season Saturday facing what one described as among the lowest returns of their lifetime, with no Copper River sockeye available, limited PWS sockeye, and a chaotic late opener that packed roughly 40 vessels into water that normally holds two or three.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has opened RC205 registration permits for the Unimak Island caribou hunt, which runs August 1 through September 30, 2026, with a three-caribou bag limit and strict two-day harvest reporting requirements.
Four ADF&G emergency orders filed July 15-17 authorize or extend commercial salmon openings at Sand Point, Port Moller, Kuskokwim Bay, and Kotzebue Sound, giving permit holders and processors short windows tied directly to inseason run data that can change without notice.
New Alaska Board of Fisheries regulations take effect July 18, banning non-resident king salmon retention in Bering Sea drainages of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands; Alaska residents are capped at one fish per day with a two-fish annual limit and must carry a harvest record.
ADF&G is opening the Chitina Subdistrict personal use dip net fishery for a full 168-hour period starting 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 20, after Miles Lake sonar counts topped preseason projections by more than 20,000 fish; king salmon retention remains banned for the season.
ADF&G's Westside Salmon Announcement 31, issued Friday, says escapement past the Togiak tower stands at just 8,340 fish, far below expectations, and the department says fishing time reductions in the Togiak District are likely the week of July 20.
With the Fortymile caribou herd down to about 27,000, Alaska has cut the 2026 hunt to 550 bulls with a one-bull limit, and any zone can close by emergency order before the season ends.
Three ADF&G emergency orders issued in late June raised sockeye bag limits to six fish per day on the Kenai, Russian, and Kasilof rivers and expanded Kasilof dipnet shore access, backed by a 4.45-million-fish late-run forecast running 23 percent above the recent ten-year average.
ADF&G is closing all state waters of the Yukon River drainage (excluding the Tanana) to chum salmon sport fishing starting July 22, including catch-and-release, because the 2026 fall chum return is projected to fall below Pacific Salmon Treaty obligations to Canada.
Southeast Alaska raised the nonresident king salmon daily limit to two fish starting July 11 after harvest ran below the regional target, with hatchery-area allowances unchanged.
A female brown bear at the Alaska Zoo has been transferred to a new location where she will be the only bear in the enclosure, following a June 14 altercation with a male bear she had shared a habitat with since September 2025. The female was originally confiscated by ADF&G and Alaska Wildlife Troopers in June 2025; the circumstances of that confiscation were not disclosed.
ADF&G biologist Jeff Rice says king salmon fishing near Petersburg and Wrangell has been strong but is past its regional peak, with bright fish still moving through; District 8 and part of Eastern Passage near Wrangell remain closed to retention until July 15.
Heavy snowpack has flooded Minto Flats, dispersing northern pike across the area rather than concentrating them in usual spots; ADF&G Area Management Biologist Andrew Gryska advises big, flashy spoons and adjusted expectations at one of Interior Alaska's premier pike destinations.
ADF&G lifted its chum salmon sport fishing closure for the Tanana River drainage on Wednesday, citing a summer chum run larger than anticipated and well within escapement goals; anglers may keep up to three salmon other than kings for the rest of the year.
Subsistence fishing reopened on the lower Kuskokwim as Chinook and chum runs met goals, with Alaska resuming mainstem management under a federal ruling protecting subsistence priority.
ADF&G has closed all Upper Copper River drainage king salmon sport fishing and banned king salmon retention at the Chitina personal use dip net fishery for the entire 2026 season, as both king and sockeye runs track weaker than expected.
ADF&G Emergency Order 3-S-FY-01-26 shuts directed subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho in District 3 at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 18, hitting Russian Mission, Holy Cross, Shageluk, and surrounding villages; the 2026 run is projected above 300,000 fish but is not expected to meet Canadian treaty obligations.
A placer gold mining application on a Susitna tributary highlights growing pressure on the salmon river, as a proposed industrial access road could open the watershed to more mining.
Bristol Bay's fleets have landed more than 26 million sockeye salmon so far in 2026, an enormous haul that's still running about 26% below the bay's 10-year average.
The University of Washington Fisheries Research Institute raised its 2026 Bristol Bay sockeye in-season forecast 16% to 48.2 million fish on July 7, as ADF&G emergency orders show 579,000 fish harvested in the Naknek-Kvichak District on a single day and vessel registrations climbing toward 396; the season remains below the past four years and pink salmon is forecast 64 million fish below 2025.
Sport fishing for king salmon in the entire Tanana River drainage remains closed through September 30 due to a below-average Yukon River forecast, while a separate emergency order has reopened chum salmon fishing after the summer run exceeded escapement goals.
New Alaska Board of Fisheries rules on Bristol Bay's Naknek and Nushagak rivers tighten king salmon limits and ban bait on the Nushagak, aiming to conserve a declining run.
NMFS is shutting down directed Pacific cod fishing by American Fisheries Act trawl catcher/processors in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands starting July 20 and running through year's end, after the sector reached its 2,112-metric-ton directed fishing allowance.
ADF&G is restricting the Chitina Subdistrict personal use dip net fishery to 96 hours (Thursday July 16 through Sunday July 19) instead of the typical 168, citing a 30,600-fish deficit below the Miles Lake sonar target; king salmon retention remains banned for the season.
ADF&G issued its 10th Port Moller Test Fishery advisory on Wednesday as the monitoring window approaches its July 15 close, giving Bristol Bay commercial permit holders, crew, and processors one of their last data-driven signals before the index goes dark for the season.
Commercial fishing opened Monday in Kuskokwim Bay's Districts 4 and 5 near Quinhagak and Goodnews Bay under a state emergency order through July 17, with subsistence fishing closed until July 18.
The Alaska Board of Game now requires every Dall sheep hunter to complete an online orientation and ace a 20-question quiz before hunting general season harvest ticket hunts starting August 10, a one-time lifetime certification targeting a documented sublegal harvest problem.
ADF&G flagged in early July that the Naknek River sockeye run could return below its 3.89 million fish forecast, with Port Moller Test Fishery data showing the stock underrepresented and early run timing compounding the risk, context that explains why managers have been carefully parceling out fishing windows even as the Kvichak runs strong.
Alaska proposes cutting the white-fronted goose bag limit from 10 to 6 in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta after population declines, in a key breeding ground and food-hunting region. Comment closes Aug. 5.
Alaska Fish and Game's free Introduction to Upland Bird Hunting class is Aug. 15 at Boyd's Farm in Palmer, with firearms, ammo, and dog demos provided for beginners.
ADF&G reported very strong sockeye numbers building at the China Poot personal-use dipnet area on Tuesday, with productive fishing expected to continue through July, while a new emergency order now requires a permit for Cook Inlet and North Gulf Coast razor clam harvest.
New rockfish regulations effective June 1 limit Kodiak and Afognak anglers to no more than 2 of any single species per day, with tighter 3-fish caps north of Tonki and Black Capes; ADF&G says moving to deeper water off rock pile edges produces better catches of dark and dusky rockfish.
The Fish Creek sport fishery closes by regulation on July 15, but strong sockeye counts this week mean ADF&G could open the personal-use dipnet fishery by emergency order if it projects more than 35,000 fish. Alaska residents should watch the Fish Counts page closely.
ADF&G closes Anchorage's Ship Creek to all sport fishing July 3–13 as king salmon returns fall short of broodstock goals at the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery.
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.
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.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers issued three citations at the Chitina Personal Use Salmon Fishery on July 4–5, including a mandatory court appearance for a Fairbanks man who kept a king salmon prohibited under a standing Emergency Order.
ADF&G's inseason projection now puts the 2026 Yukon River summer chum run above 900,000 fish, more than double the preseason forecast, allowing selective-gear subsistence openings from the Coastal District through District 4 and the Koyukuk River, with retention windows running through late July in upper districts.
A collapsing Deshka River king salmon run has ADF&G closing Upper Cook Inlet Northern District commercial fishing, with escapement projected far below the sustainable goal.
Tok Wildlife Troopers issued five citations at the Chitina personal use dipnet fishery between June 26 and June 29, including charges for retaining a king salmon and fishing during a closed period. Three defendants face arraignment July 15 at Glennallen District Court.
by Bill AlaskaNews19h ago2 min readAI
