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Kuskokwim Gillnet Opening July 23, Set Net Opening July 23 to July 25

A gillnet drifts in the lower waters of the Kuskokwim River during a subsistence fishing opening on June 12, 2018.
Katie Basile
/
KYUK

There will be a gillnet fishing opening on the lower Kuskokwim River on Friday, July 23, followed by a set net opening through the weekend.

From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, July 23, the mainstem waters of the lower Kuskokwim River will be open to set and drift nets.

Gillnets are restricted to 6-inch or less mesh, and may not exceed 45 meshes in depth. Nets are restricted to 300 feet in length below the Johnson River, and 150 feet in length above the Johnson River.

Then, beginning at 10 p.m. on Friday, July 23, the lower Kuskokwim will close to drift nets, but will remain open to set nets until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 25.

Set nets are restricted to 6-inch or less mesh, and may not exceed 100 feet in length and 45 meshes in depth. The nets must be set within 100 feet of the ordinary high water mark.

These gillnet openings apply to the mainstem waters of the lower Kuskokwim River, from the mouth upriver to the Kalskag Bluffs. The mainstem Kuskokwim waters upriver of the Kalskag Bluffs are open full-time to gillnets.

The Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group voted unanimously to support these lower river gillnet openings at its meeting on July 21.

Also at that meeting, Kuskokwim River state fishery manager Nick Smith announced his intention to open the entire Kuskokwim River to gillnets beginning July 31, which is when state data indicates that nearly the entire chum salmon run will have passed through the lower river. The working group also voted unanimously to support this action.

Anna Rose MacArthur served as KYUK's News Director from 2015-2022.
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