With the chinook salmon run wrapped up, chum slowing down, and the first coho swimming past the Kuskokwim River sonar, federal fisheries managers are opening the lower river to drift and set gillnet fishing for federally qualified subsistence users until the end of July.
According to Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge manager Spencer Rearden, the decision is based on decent looking chum numbers and evidence that fishing effort will be relatively low this late in the season. Rearden said that the move was jointly agreed upon with the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Gillnet (24-hour drift and/or set):
- From Tuesday, July 23 at 6 a.m. to Wednesday, July 31 at 11:59 p.m.
This opportunity applies to the area downstream of the Kalskag Line to the mouth of the Kuskokwim River at the lower boundary of the federal refuge.
Below the Johnson River, gillnets are restricted to 6-inch or less mesh and may not exceed 45 meshes in depth and 50 fathoms (300 feet) in combined drift and set net length. Above the Johnson River, nets are restricted to 25 fathoms (150 feet) in combined length.
