The Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Sport Fish sent out two advisory announcements liberalizing fishing.
The Kenai River personal use dip net fishery will soon be open 24 hours per day, beginning at 11:00 p.m. Friday, July 22 through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 31, 2022. Additionally, the sport fishing bag and possession limits for salmon, 16 inches or longer, except for king, pink, and coho salmon, in the Kenai River downstream of Skilak Lake to six per day and twelve in possession effective 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 22 through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, December 31, 2022. This includes the flowing waters of the Kenai River from its mouth upstream to the ADF&G regulatory marker located at the outlet of Skilak Lake.
Area Management Biologist Colton Lipka tells KSRM:
“The Department is increasing the bag limits for the sockeye salmon sport fishery in the Kenai River as we have seen an increase in the passage of sockeye into the river and we’re able to estimate that abundance is at 2.3 million and we’re going to be able to achieve the escapement goal, which are the metrics that are laid out within the sockeye salmon management plan. So, we get those bag limits up to give in river anglers a bit more opportunity and then in the personal use fishery, the metrics that we use are the same. We’ll expand that time so that folks can take advantage of full tide series in some cases where it runs later or starts earlier.”
Lipka adds:
“Of course, we do ask that folks are mindful of all of the regulations that are in place for both fisheries and especially in the personal use that they’re doing their part to keep the beaches clean and having an orderly fishery, being mindful for the boat fishers of each other and making sure that they are marking their permits and marking their fish. Additionally, king salmon are not to be harvested in the personal use fishery.”
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