Fish biologist James Savereide of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game counts salmon in the Chena River as they pass the Moose Creek Dam on Monday, July 26, 2010. Because the number of fish returning to the Chena this year is down, fishery managers are closing the river Wednesday for king salmon fishing. Sam Harrel/News-Miner
The river will be closed to king salmon fishing starting Wednesday because the number of fish returning to the Chena this year is down.
Fisheries managers with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are hoping the restriction will allow enough fish to make it past the Moose Creek Dam to reach the department’s minimum escapement goal.
As of Sunday, approximately 1,900 kings had passed the dam.
The minimum escapement objective is 2,800 kings, and the average count for that date is 5,800 kings.
“It’s definitely not looking good,” Fairbanks area biologist Audra Brase said.
Brase had hoped to at least allow anglers to catch and release kings for the remainder of the season, but there wasn’t enough leeway to do so, she said.
“Our model is projecting we’re going to be barely below (the minimum escapement),” she said.
King fishing will remain open in the Salcha River, where things are looking better than the Chena. Approximately 4,000 kings had been counted in the Salcha through Sunday, surpassing the department’s minimum escapement objective of 3,300.
“It seems like the trend in recent years is better escapement in the Salcha than the Chena,” Brase said.
The weak return in the Chena River coincides with a poor king run in the Yukon River this year.
While most Alaska streams are expected to meet escapement goals, there is still a question about whether or not enough kings will make it to the Alaska-Canada border to fulfill the U.S. obligation under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
The minimum escapement goal at the border is 42,500 king salmon. The count at a sonar counter near the border as of Sunday was 13,640 salmon. The average count for that date is 35,400.
While Canada’s streams produce about half the Yukon River king return, the Chena and Salcha rivers are the largest contributors to kings on the Alaska side of the border. Based on genetic studies done on the commercial and subsistence harvest of Yukon River kings, the Chena and Salcha rivers produce about 30 percent of the Yukon River king run.
With this year’s Yukon king return running about a week late, Brase is still hopeful the escapement goal will be met in the Chena.
“Usually it’s around the beginning of August when we stop seeing fish,” she said. “This year I think we might still be seeing fish up to the 10th.”
Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.
now we're seeing the results from the intercept fisheries. The Yukon River hasn't been doing good for the last 3 years. It has been about 4 years for any commerial King fishing on the Yukon, WHY? Well, the trawlers have stolen them to sell in Seattle along with their pollock! This last winter in the newspaper said the trawlers want to raise the bycatch from 4?,000 to 60,000, WHY? The last 3 years the trawlers have been reporting way last than 40,000 kings(bycatch) So why would they want to raise it to 60,000? Answer: At 30 lbs. avg for each king(60,000kings x 30lbs. each = 1,800,000 lbs)then 1,800,000 lbs. x $5/lbs = $9,000,000!!! $9,000,000 is the reason the trawlers want to raise the bycatch numbers, if that happens, we can count on even less kings returning back to the Mighty Yukon!!! Is the Yukon going to dry up & have no more Kings in the future??? Think it's time to see your Rep., Sen, Governor & Washington DC, let them know your concerns, this is happening all over Alaska!!! We can't stop the sun from sunning, if some of the problem is 'climatic changes', but we can stop the trawlers!!!!