2026 Fishing Season Openers
Management in state-managed waters of the Kuskokwim River:
Yukon River salmon fishing closure information:
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The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge announced a 30-day closure for all migratory bird species. The closure will be in effect from June 6 through July 6 and applies to the entire region. The only exception is scoters, which have their own closure from June 11 through July 11.
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Subsistence fishermen are fighting the attorney general’s decision to overturn the board’s action.
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The management strategy aimed at protecting vulnerable chum and chinook stocks on the river and its tributaries is nearly identical to the previous two years. The key difference this time around is that federal managers do not plan to restrict the harvest of coho.
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The Aleutians East Borough was among four plaintiffs who argued the Alaska Board of Fisheries violated the state’s ethics laws.
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The motion stems from a lawsuit filed by the groups in November after the Alaska Board of Game reauthorized a Mulchatna predator control program that had previously been overturned by state court rulings.
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The funds come after the U.S. Secretary of Commerce declared a disaster for the 2021 subsistence fishery and set aside roughly $570,000. Eligible households are those whose ability to access subsistence salmon from the Kuskokwim River drainage was impacted as a direct or indirect result of the fishery disaster.