July 3rd 2026 Report From Fish & Game On Status Of Copper River Salmon

Fish & Game Report For Early July: Season Total Is 4,172 Kings & 228,277 Sockeyes 

Commercial Fishery:

No commercial fishing periods have occurred this week. The last commercial fishing period was held on June 11. Season total harvest in the Copper River District commercial fishery is 4,172 king salmon and 228,277 sockeye salmon.

 

Miles Lake SONAR:

Daily salmon passage at Miles Lake sonar over the past several days has met or exceeded the daily management objective. This is a welcome trend in salmon passage because as of June 28, the daily sonar passage this season had been below the daily management objective for all but eight days since sonar operations began back in mid-May.

 

 

Total salmon passage through yesterday, July 2, was 378,113 fish. This is about 58,000 less fish than the target cumulative management objective for this date. The past 7 days of stronger than anticipated daily counts have helped reduce the salmon deficit by approximately 30,000 fish since my last email. This is a good thing, but we are still not caught up to where we need to be for this time of the year.

 

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.

 

 

A total of 17,527 large king salmon have been counted at Miles Lake sonar through June 30. This is the lowest cumulative count of large king salmon on record for this date.

 

 

Large king salmon counts are available online on the Department’s Fish Counts webpage. Because of data processing constraints, counts of large king salmon passage are not available on a next-day basis like the unapportioned, total salmon counts. Large king salmon counts are posted online twice a week, typically on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

 

Native Village of Eyak (NVE) Fish Wheels:

Total catch at Baird Canyon this season has been below average and recapture rates at Canyon Creek have been higher than average for this time of the year, both indications that the run is weak.

 

Gulkana River Counting Tower:

The Gulkana counting tower has passed a total of 702 king salmon and 4,248 sockeye salmon through yesterday, July 2. Daily salmon passage past the tower has slowed over the past few days, however this is likely related to cold water temperatures. For the past week, water temperatures at the counting tower have been 3–7˚ Fahrenheit colder each day than average. Gulkana River fish counts can be tracked at the ADF&G Fish Counts webpage.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Copper River:

The Copper River stage gauge in Chitina is still offline. Until the gauge is fixed, I have no river level data to input into the usual figure I send along. River reports from Chitina have been that the river had come up earlier in the week but is now starting to drop. 

 

CHITINA SUBDISTRICT PERSONAL USE FISHERY:

Because total salmon passage into the Copper River this season has been tracking well-behind the target management objectives, conservative management of the personal use fishery has been implemented this season.

 

The Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use salmon dip net fishery opened today  at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 3 for a 72-hour period. The fishery will remain open through 11:59 p.m., Sunday, July 5. King salmon retention in the personal use dip net fishery is prohibited for the entire season. Any king salmon caught must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed.

 

This past Wednesday (July 1), an Emergency Order closing the personal use dip net fishery for the week of July 6–12 was released. Sonar counts from June 22–28 were lower than anticipated for 5 of 7 days of the week, and the total salmon passage deficit increased during that week even with no commercial harvest occurring. As of July 28, the total salmon passage of 317,769 fish was the lowest count on record for that date since 1986, and approximately 20,000 and 30,000 salmon less than the recent low abundance years of 2018 and 2020, respectively. Because of this, I felt it was prudent to take a week off due to the declining salmon passage trends observed at Miles Lake and allow more fish upriver for spawning escapement needs.

 

Fishing periods in the Chitina Subdistrict will continue to be determined on a weekly basis and announced each Wednesdays as usual. The closure for July 6–12 is only for that week; it is not an extended closure. Fishing time in the personal use fishery is determined by the weekly passage of fish past Miles Lake and the overall total salmon passage in the Copper River so far this season. Reduced fishing periods will continue to be necessary until passage trends indicate the inriver goal will be achieved. 

 

GLENNALLEN SUBDISTRICT SUBSISTENCE FISHERY:

The Glennallen Subdistrict subsistence salmon fishery is currently open through September 30 in accordance with regulation. No restrictions have been implemented in the subsistence fishery.

 

SPORT FISHERIES:

An Emergency Order was released this week that restricts the Upper Copper River king salmon sport fisheries to catch-and-release and prohibits the use of bait and treble hooks in all flowing waters, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 6.  The previous Emergency Order that reduced the sport fishery annual limit for king salmon to 1 fish remains in effect through this weekend while king salmon retention is still allowed.

 

King salmon continue to move into the Gulkana River and are making their way upstream.  Heavy rain over the past several days has once again made the river very turbid from the West Fork downstream and has likely impacted fishing success. Sockeye salmon are also entering the Gulkana River but most folks fishing for salmon there are focused on king salmon.

 

King salmon sport fishing opened by regulation on the Klutina and Tonsina Rivers on July 1 and anglers are reporting success on the Klutina River.

 

Sockeye salmon continue to enter the Klutina River but entry seems to be spotty and inconsistent. Most anglers agree that fishing is slower than normal for this time of year.

 

WHAT I AM THINKING NOW:

Increased salmon passage numbers at Miles Lake sonar this week are good to see, however we still remain behind on the total number of salmon inriver this season. The total salmon count has bumped up a fair amount over the past week and as of July 2, is tracking near to what was observed in 2020 for this date. 

 

The Copper River commercial fishery is managed to achieve an inriver goal of salmon as measured at the Miles Lake sonar. This year’s inriver goal is 632,700 salmon. The inriver goal is the number of salmon that need to make it past the commercial fishery and enter the Copper River to allow for escapement needs PLUS upriver harvests in the subsistence, personal use, and sport fisheries.

 

 

This inriver goal is used to create the daily and cumulative management objectives for fish passage past Miles Lake. These objectives are depicted in gray in the daily and cumulative passage figures I include in these weekly emails.

 

Each day's salmon passage goes towards the components of the inriver goal, which include spawning escapement, subsistence harvest, personal use harvest, and sport harvest. Gulkana hatchery broodstock is also a component of the inriver goal. Hatchery-bound fish typically enter the Copper River and pass Miles Lake starting in mid-to-late June and continue through July.

 

Upriver sport, personal use, and subsistence fisheries are managed to achieve our salmon spawning escapement goals and distribute harvests throughout the season. Because we are not tracking to meet the inriver goal this season, upriver harvests must be reduced to meet sockeye salmon escapement needs. Under Alaska law, subsistence fisheries are priority fisheries. NO restrictions in the subsistence fishery will be enacted unless we get to a point where passage drops off so drastically that projections indicate we will not achieve the sockeye salmon escapement goal with any additional harvest, including subsistence harvest. We are NOT at that stage. Based on total salmon passage and historical run timing, we are on track to meet the sockeye salmon escapement goal and allow for unrestricted subsistence harvest as long as we have reduced harvest in the other upriver fisheries. The personal use fishery has the highest harvest potential of all the upriver fisheries, due to the high amount of participation and effectiveness of fishing in that portion of the Copper River. 

 

The personal use fishery has an assumed harvest of 150,000 salmon this year included in the inriver goal. However, it is not possible to allow for that much harvest and still meet the sockeye salmon escapement goal. Therefore, the personal use fishery has been managed for reduced harvest and will continue to be managed with reductions in fishing time. Dipnetting opportunity in the Chitina Subdistrict personal use fishery for the week of July 13–19 will most likely be limited to 3 days of fishing opportunity, focused on the weekend to benefit most users. Nothing is set in stone until all daily count data comes in from Miles Lake for this week (June 29–July 5) and run timing, abundance, and harvest projections are analyzed.

 

Because numbers of large king salmon have been low at Miles Lake sonar, we have been conservative in our management of the sport and personal use fisheries this season. No king salmon retention has been allowed this season in the personal use fishery, which is the second year in a row that below the bridge dipnetters won’t be offered any opportunity to harvest a king. Additionally, the king salmon sport fishery annual limit has been reduced to 1 fish and beginning next week, we are further restricting the sport fishery to no retention. Overall sport harvest of king salmon in the Upper Copper River drainage is relatively low, and for the past 5 years it has averaged less than 500 fish annually. King salmon passage past Miles Lake sonar will continue to be monitored and additional actions in the upriver fisheries taken if needed.

Tracy R. Hansen

Area Management Biologist