June 28th: Copper River District Salmon Fishery Informaiton

Total Salmon Passage Is 539,140 Salmon Through June 27th, 2025 

Commercial Fishery:

When I emailed Friday June 20, preliminary harvest data from the Thursday, June 19, 24-hour fishing period in the Copper River District was not yet available. That period used the “regular” expanded inside closed waters for king salmon conservation. A total of 384 king salmon and about 60,000 sockeye salmon were harvested.

 

The commercial fishery opened for a 24-hour period on Monday, June 23. No inside closed waters were implemented for that fishing period and harvest from that period was 270 king salmon and about 44,000 sockeye salmon.

 

Most recently, the Copper River District was open for a 24-hour commercial fishing period beginning, Thursday, June 26. No inside closed waters were implemented for that fishing period and Chinook salmon harvest in the Copper River District is, on average, 96% complete. Preliminary harvest data from that opening estimates 219 king salmon and about 59,000 sockeye salmon were taken, bringing the season total harvest to 5,018 king salmon and 464,700 sockeye salmon.

 

Miles Lake SONAR:

Total salmon passage past the sonar is 539,140 salmon through yesterday, June 27. This is about 145,500 more fish than the total management objective for this date. Currently, passage trends are hovering near and slightly above the daily management objectives for the past several days. You can monitor the sonar counts, and how they compare to the anticipated or expected counts, by CLICKING HERE. Miles Lake sonar counts are also found on the Department’s Fish Counts webpage.

 

 

King salmon cumulative apportionment at the sonar is tracking very similar to 2021and 2024, both of which are years when we didn’t meet the king salmon escapement goal.

 

Native Village of Eyak (NVE) Fish Wheels:

As of June 27, the NVE Baird Canyon fish wheels have captured, marked, and released a total of 2,798 king salmon. The NVE fish wheels running at Canyon Creek have captured a total of 246 salmon, of which 30 have been marked. Canyon Creek’s capture rates have increased over the past few days but so have their tagged (or recaptured) fish rates. Currently, 12.2% of all king salmon captured at Canyon Creek have been tagged fish. This is a high recapture rate, which is indicative of low abundance.  Tagged king salmon recaptured at Canyon Creek are now averaging about 10 days of travel time to get there from Baird Canyon.  Swim speeds have slowed due to the high water. These slower swim speeds are typical to what is observed each year as the season progresses because the Copper River water height raises with the onset of hot, summer weather.

 

Current indices point to a weak king salmon run and since Thursday evening, have taken a turn for the worse. After harvest from the subsistence fishery and restricted sport fishery occurs, the projected escapement is near the lower end of the sustainable escapement goal of 21,000-31,000 king salmon. If recapture rates remain high at Canyon Creek over the next several days, additional restrictions will likely be necessary.

 

Copper River:

With the onset of cooler weather this week, the Copper River at the Chitina-McCarthy Bridge has stabilized and has begun to recede. The river it is still lower than last year on this date and is about 1.5 feet below the average stage height. You can monitor the Copper River stage gauge in Chitina online at this NOAA site.

 

 

CHITINA SUBDISTRICT PERSONAL USE FISHERY:

The Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use salmon dip net fishery is currently open and will remain open for the entire week of June 30 – July 6 and king salmon retention has been prohibited for the remainder of the season with this past Wednesday’s (June 25) Emergency Order. Any king salmon caught must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed.  Now that the water level has begun to drop with the recent cooler weather, dipnetting has been improving. 

 

GLENNALLEN SUBDISTRICT SUBSISTENCE FISHERY:

The Glennallen Subdistrict subsistence salmon fishery is currently open. Reports from the subsistence fish wheels from Copper Center upstream have been slow this past week and the aftermath of the high water during the week prior has caused a lot of debris and struggle for fish wheel operators. 

 

SPORT FISHERIES:

Angler reports from the Gulkana and Klutina Rivers have been relatively slow for salmon fishing.  The king salmon annual limit in the sport fishery has been reduced to the 1 fish for the entire Copper River drainage and the use of bait and treble hooks are still prohibited in the Gulkana River. King salmon fishing does not open in the Klutina or Tonsina Rivers until July 1.

 

On going salmon research in 2025:

The Gulkana counting tower has passed a total of 711 king salmon and 2,784 sockeye salmon through June 26. The king salmon count is about 24% lower than the average king salmon count for that date.  Gulkana River fish counts can be tracked at the ADF&G Fish Counts webpage.

 

Through June 26, a total of 600 sockeye salmon have been radio tagged at Baird Canyon. Since my last update, 190 tagged fish have swam past our lower Copper River tracking station (previously was 180 tagged fish). No new tagged fish have entered the Chitina River drainage (currently remains at 11 tags), 124 tags have entered the Klutina River (previously 109), followed by 25 tags in the Tazlina River (previously 23), and 6 tags in the Gulkana River (previously 5). No additional tagged fish have passed the Gakona station (currently still 9) or Chistochina (still 7 tags).  Overall, fish movements have slowed quite a bit with the onset of highwater levels from the week prior but that should pick up now that the river has begun to stabilize and drop.

 

If you catch a radio-tagged salmon this season, we ask that you please contact the office at 907-822-3309 so we can collect data on when and where the fish was harvested, and the tag number located on the tag itself. Also, if you can return the tag to us in a timely manner, it can be reused this season and put into another salmon.  You can mail in or drop off your radio tags in Glennallen or any other local Fish and Game office. There is a drop box out front of the office if you pass through Glennallen after-hours, as well as a drop box located at O’Brien Creek on the ADF&G Information Board and another near the Chitina-McCarthy Bridge on the East side of the river.

 

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR NOW:

SOCKEYE SALMON:  We will continue to monitor and track daily passage at Miles Lake. Cumulative passage past the sonar to date is projecting the end the season with approximately 850,000 salmon inriver and we should fall within the sockeye salmon escapement goal range of 360,000-750,000 fish. 

 

KING SALMON: Projections on king salmon continue to point towards an inriver estimate near 25,000 fish. Restrictions have been implemented in the sport fishery and no retention of king salmon is allowed in the personal use fishery. We will continue to monitor NVE capture data to determine if further action is needed to ensure we meet the escapement goal. This could lead to additional restrictions in the king salmon sport fisheries.

 

NEXT DECISION TIME: Today, Saturday, June 28, commercial managers decided a 24-hour opening in the Copper River District for Monday, June 30. On Monday (June 30) I will be reviewing the sonar counts from June 23-29 to determine how many hours the personal use fishery will be open for its fourth week of the season. This decision will be announced on Wednesday, July 2 for fishing time occurring the week of July 7–13. I will also be scrutizing NVE data to determine if/how we need to further reduce the harvest of king salmon.

 

Please remember that the Department manages fisheries to provide commercial, sport, personal use, and subsistence harvest opportunity to the extent possible while ensuring spawning escapement falls within the sustainable escapement goal range.

 

Thank you once again for taking the time to read this update. If you have any questions, feel free to email or call me at the office at 907-822-3309.

 

Tracy R. Hansen

Area Management Biologist

Upper Copper/Upper Susitna 

Alaska Department of Fish & Game

Division of Sport Fish – Glennallen

907.822.3309