The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports that they are closing the king salmon fishery throughout the entire Kenai River drainage. The king salmon fishery on the Kasilof River downstream of the Sterling Highway Bridge will also be closed. The closures will run from 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, July 21st through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, July 31, 2021.
Cook Inlet Management Coordinator Matt Miller spoke with KSRM:
“The Department took action effective Wednesday to close the Kenai River and Kasilof River to the fishing of king salmon of all sizes. We have a goal that we manage for, an optimal escapement goal set by the Board of Fish of 15,000 and 30,000 large king salmon, we have a large fish goal there. We started watching our projections beginning in July and they were not doing well. We started July 1st on the late run kings with no bait and then on July 14th, reduced it down restricted it to catch-and-release and the numbers continue to be poor. Yesterday, we decided to take that final action and close the river to all king salmon fishing.”
Miller said that the projection is for around 10,000 king salmon:
“It is a huge deal closing the king salmon fishery in the Kenai river impacts, not only the in-river users who can no longer fish for kings. Personal use, once we went to no bait, were not allowed to retain kings if they were out there dipnetting for sockeye. Of course, it also closes east side setnet and puts restrictions on the drift fleet. It affects all the user groups here in the Kenai River and the community.”
Miller said there’s an outside chance it could reopen:
“If we achieve the goal in July, then the restrictions would be lifted and we could go back to some sort of fishery, which would lift the restrictions on the commercial fisheries. If we are closed at the end of July, then in August, if the goal is achieved, then the commercial fisheries go back to the sockeye management plan, which would allow them to put nets back into the water and get back to business.”
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