Public Media for Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

Salmon Fishing On Lower Yukon Shut Down

Dave Cannon

On the Yukon River, subsistence salmon fishing is being closed to protect king salmon as they migrate upriver.

Salmon fishing has been closed in the Yukon River's South Coastal District, the Northern Coast Area, and Districts 1,2, and 3. That includes Hooper Bay; Scammon Bay, including Point Romanoff; Black River; and the coastal communities of Emmonak; Nunam Iqua; Alakanuk; and Kotlik. The salmon fishing closure continues from the mouth of the Yukon River all the way up to Russian Mission and Holy Cross.

People can fish with 4-inch or smaller mesh gillnets to harvest non-salmon species. The nets are restricted to 60-feet in length or shorter.

The king run on the Yukon is predicted to be smaller than last summer’s, and may not meet the minimum escapement goals set by managers.

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Johanna Eurich's vivid broadcast productions have been widely heard on National Public Radio since 1978. She spent her childhood speaking Thai, then learned English as a teenager and was educated at a dance academy, boarding schools and with leading intellectuals at her grandparents' dinner table in Philadelphia.