Emergency order number 20 opens commercial salmon fishing with set gillnets in the Kenai, Kasilof and East Forelands sections of the upper sub-district on Saturday, July 28.
Drift gillnetting will be open in the Expanded Kenai and Expanded Kasilof sections of the Upper Sub-district and in the Anchor Point Section of the Lower Sub-district from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 29, 2017.
On July 28, 2017, Commercial Fisheries Division staff estimated the Kenai River sockeye salmon run will exceed 2.3 million sockeye salmon. Based on this assessment, the in-river goal range for Kenai River sockeye salmon is now 1.0 million–1.3 million fish.
The total sockeye salmon passage estimate in the Kenai River through Thursday, July 27, 2017 is approximately 581,000 fish. On average, sockeye salmon passage into the Kenai River is 63%
complete through July 27. In-season information indicates sockeye salmon run timing is two or more days late. Based on this, final passage projections of sockeye salmon in the Kenai River are
expected to exceed 1.0 million fish.
The total sockeye salmon passage estimate in the Kasilof River through Thursday, July 27 2017 is approximately 238,000 fish. The biological escapement goal of 160,000–340,000 sockeye salmon has already been achieved for this system. Therefore, given the current rate of sockeye salmon passage in both the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, and that in-season information indicates this year’s sockeye salmon run to be late in run timing, opening the commercial fisheries in these areas on Saturday, July 29, 2017 is warranted.
