The weak chum salmon run continues on the Yukon River, with managers closing subsistence harvest for salmon to reduce the impact on chum salmon.
The number of chums is unlikely to meet neither the drainage wide or tributary escapement goals, nor the Canadian treaty objectives. The first chum group of any size is expected to cross the Canadian border any day now. These are summer chum salmon. The first of the fall chum run should begin crossing the border at the end of August.
To let as many chum get to spawning grounds as possible, subsistence fishing for salmon has been closed on the Yukon River. But subsistence fishing for whitefish, pike, and other non-salmon species will remain open seven days per week, 24 hours per day with use of 4-inch or smaller mesh gillnets. Fishermen fishing in Districts 1, 2, 3, and in Subdistrict 4-A of the Yukon can use hook and line gear to target non-salmon species and salmon that aren’t chums.