Chinook salmon runs in the Karluk River and its neighboring Ayakulik River have hit record lows the last two years. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists are imposing strict regulations this year.
While the commercial target species for those rivers that time of year are usually sockeye, Chinook are often incidentally harvested with them. Commercial fishermen might not be allowed to harvest near either river during the usual commercial openers between June 1-15.
James Jackson, an area biologist for Kodiak’s Fish and Game office, said they probably aren’t viable this year. If the forecast is right, the department would have to take drastic measures.
“We’re going to use our emergency order authority to even not have those two 33-hour fishing periods,” he said.
He said this will mostly affect the between 30 and 40 seiners who usually fish those areas. It would be the first time the department’s used the authority for this in decades.
“That is just to get as much Chinook salmon as we possibly can and have more than what we had in 2023 and 2024,” Jackson said.
The Karluk River especially has struggled.
Department staff only counted 76 Chinook there in 2024 – less than 3 percent of the minimum escapement goal of 3,000 fish. That’s the number of fish the department estimates is needed for a sustainable fishery. The river hasn’t met that goal since 2001.
The sockeye run for the Karluk River is forecasted to be 95,000 fish – about two thirds the escapement goal of 150,000 fish.
Jackson said the Ayakulik River has a “pretty good” sockeye forecast, but concerns about Chinook numbers there are also affecting sockeye fishery decisions.
“We’re likely not (going) to open the commercial salmon fishery around Ayakulik until it looks like we’re going to exceed the early run sockeye salmon escapement goal, and that is just to get as much Chinook salmon escapement as we can,” Jackson said.
July could still be viable for fishing there, though, since Jackson said up to 90 percent of Chinook come before July 5.
Commercial fishermen aren’t the only ones facing harsher restrictions this year – sport fishermen won’t be able to fish for Chinook at all.
Tyler Polum, a Fish and Game biologist for sport fishing, said the low predictions this year are partly because spawning conditions were bad in 2020, which were the parents for this year’s returning fish.
“The conditions in the freshwater during 2020 during the spawning season were really similar to 2019, and so given what we saw in 2024 with 76 fish, and the conditions for the parent year for the 2025 run, we don’t expect it to be much different, “ Polum said.
Subsistence fishermen in the Karluk area will also not be allowed to keep Chinook.
The stocks in Kodiak aren’t the only ones of concern for the state – many king salmon stocks in the Gulf of Alaska are up for Endangered Species Act review following the extremely low runs in recent years.
Last fall, two Kodiak trawlers incidentally harvested 2,000 Chinook, just another contributing factor to the species’ struggle.
The two biologists agree though, if returns are better than expected, Fish and Game will look at reducing restrictions.
