Results have been mixed following the first two openers of the fishing season on the Kuskokwim River.
“Our staff that were out on the river and in and about different communities, they talked to folks that caught as many as 25, 30 chinook salmon,” Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge manager Boyd Blihovde said. “And then, obviously, some people didn't do as well. Just depends on where you put your set net."
In addition to reports of large amounts of debris, high water levels along the Kuskokwim River have significantly reduced the number of eddies where set net fishing is practical.
“We certainly heard from folks that didn't even try to go out and set net because of the water being so high. Some of the places that people would particularly like to go set net were just not available for them,” Blihovde said. “If the water gets too high it just becomes almost impossible to fish and people don't want to lose their nets and things.”
On flights conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over federally managed portions of the river, stretching from Tuntutuliak upriver to Tuluksak, 62 set nets were counted for the June 3 opener and 96 set nets were counted for the June 6 opener.
“That's pretty good participation or interest from the local public. So a bit higher than last year's count,” Blihovde said.
Also monitoring the situation along a large swath of the river is the Orutsararmiut Native Council (ONC), the tribal organization for Bethel. They are continuing a long-standing fish camp and boat harbor survey route and will be on the river on a daily basis during the season, providing critical data about the fishery.
“We survey from the Akiachak-Kwethluk “Y” all the way down to the slough right after you pass the village of Napaskiak,” ONC director of natural resources Alissa Rogers said.
“On the first opener, it was empty. There was nobody at fish camps. It was cold and rainy,” Rogers said. “And then on sixth opener, there were a lot more people going out there starting to head out to fish camps. Not very many people were still fishing. A lot of them were just prepping camp.”
Rogers said that fishermen were struggling to reconcile the high costs of fuel and low prospects for a decent-sized catch. She said that the June 6 opener saw a relatively low turnout.
“We only had roughly, I would say, maybe 12 or 13 actual nets that were in the river when we were out that day. Pretty much everyone was skunking right and left,” Rogers said.
ONC’s efforts have also revealed severe damage to fish camps within their surveying zone resulting from fallen trees, breakup flooding, and the effects of Typhoon Merbok in September 2022.
“That was a bit of a heartbreak. I'll admit, seeing it firsthand, we had come across a lot of our traditional fish camps that we've surveyed over the years; they were completely destroyed,” Rogers said.
Amid a sustained crash in king salmon numbers on the Kuskokwim River, ONC is asking for the public’s help for surveying the catch by distributing what are known as age-sex-length (ASL) kits. Participants will earn $5 per fish for providing identifying information and a scale sample as well as the chance to win a $50 fuel card.
