On June 18, another section of the Kuskokwim River will open full-time to drift nets.
The Kuskokwim main-stem, from the Kalskag Bluffs to the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge boundary at Aniak, will open to drift nets indefinitely. However, king salmon harvest remains restricted to Kuskokwim residents in this area. The rest of the middle and upper river, from Aniak to the headwaters, opened to all state residents on June 12.
Federal managers began an early opening of the section of river from Kalskag to Aniak in 2018 to give Kalskag fishermen more opportunity to harvest salmon. Local fishermen say that the river near Upper and Lower Kalskag has few eddies and lots of debris, so they spend more time sharing fishing locations and mending nets than fishermen in the lower river, and require more fishing time than the limited openings allow.
Because this area has a smaller population than the lower river, managers are not concerned that the opening will cause a large king harvest that would harm escapement numbers. Managers say that the lower river salmon harvests during limited openings reduce the harvests for middle river fishermen during these periods.
“While users from Kalskag to Aniak have been provided the same amount of opportunity as users below Kalskag, when the lower river subsistence fishery is in operation the passage of Chinook salmon to the Kalskag to Aniak area is reduced, which makes fishing more difficult and less efficient,” Ray Born, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge Acting Refuge Manager wrote, explaining the regulation. “Opening the Kuskokwim River between Kalskag to Aniak while the lower river subsistence fishery is closed increases the possibility that more fish would be available for harvest upstream.”
