Around 2.2 million summer chum salmon are swimming up the Yukon River, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The state is opening various commercial harvest periods targeting the species beginning this weekend.
In Yukon District 1 there will be four commercial openings: on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, all beginning at 5 p.m. and lasting until 1 a.m. the following day.
In the District 1 openings, gillnets are limited to six-inch or smaller mesh. Any king salmon caught during the District 1 commercial openings may be kept for subsistence and must be recorded on a fish ticket.
In Yukon District 2 there will be two commercial openings: on Tuesday and Thursday, from 4 p.m. until midnight.
Gillnets are prohibited in District 2. Fishermen are restricted to dip nets and beach seines, and all king salmon must be released alive from this gear to the water and recorded on a fish ticket.
Kwik'Pak Fisheries is the buyer in both districts. The company has less capacity to purchase fish in District 2 because it has to send a tender upriver and has asked the state to remain with selective gear.
Subsistence fishing in Districts 1 and 2 will close two hours before and after the openings as well as during the openings themselves. During the closures, subsistence fishermen may use nets of four-inch or smaller mesh of 60 feet or shorter length to target non-salmon species. King salmon harvested in these smaller nets may be kept.
