The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Fishing Announcement No. 17 opens commercial fishing with drift gillnets in Drift Gillnet Area 1 and the Expanded Kenai and Expanded Kasilof sections of the Central District from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 15, 2022.
As of July 13, the Kasilof River sockeye salmon cumulative count was 248,000 and run timing was 43% complete, projecting a final escapement of 584,000 fish. The biological escapement goal for Kasilof River sockeye salmon of 140,000 to 320,000 has been achieved. Both Kenai River late-run large king and late-run sockeye salmon runs are too early in the season to project final escapement with a high degree of accuracy. The fishing time provided in this announcement is intended to harvest sockeye salmon returning to the Kenai and Kasilof rivers.
Fishermen and processors are reminded of the legal requirement to report all commercially harvested salmon on a fish ticket, whether sold or kept for personal use, using the correct statistical fishing area or areas (5 AAC 39.130(c)(7)).
Fish harvested in the drift gillnet fishery during this fishing period should be reported in statistical areas 244-60.