Federal fisheries managers have announced an emergency closure for the harvest of all coho, or silver salmon, on the Kuskokwim River and its tributaries within federal refuge boundaries. The closure goes into effect on Aug. 12 at 5 p.m., and is a continuation of a state closure already in place.
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge Manager Spencer Rearden said that this year’s coho run is tracking similar to 2022, when estimated returns were the lowest in more than two decades.
"Fifty percent of the run has already passed Bethel now, and could the numbers improve with some late runs? Absolutely. We want to open the river, but until the fish say we can, we're closed at this moment," Rearden said.
As of Aug. 10, Rearden said that an estimated 96,000 coho had passed the Kuskokwim River sonar, just downriver from Kwethluk. On the same day in 2022, that number was around 86,000.
"That's not a lot of difference when you're comparing poor numbers to poor numbers," Rearden said.
Rearden said that other recent years have averaged almost double that number of coho salmon passed through the lower river at this point in the season.
The closure by federal managers comes just days after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued its own coho fishing closure on the river, also citing drastically reduced numbers at the sonar.
In 2022, the state closed the entire Kuskokwim River and nearly all tributaries to coho salmon fishing for the first time ever. Coho rebounded in the years that followed, but Rearden said that this year’s low numbers didn’t come as a total surprise.
"In 2022, that's the parent year for most of the coho salmon that we're seeing this year. And because those numbers were low, we did half expect them to come in low also," Rearden said.
But Rearden said that looking at parent years to predict coho run strength isn’t always reliable.
"In 2020, the runs were low, too, but four years later, in 2024, they were adequate enough that we relinquished authority," Rearden said.
While this year’s closure is in place, the use of gillnets and the harvest of coho salmon will be closed for all users in all federal public waters of the Kuskokwim River from the mouth to Aniak, including salmon-spawning tributaries, and the Aniak Box.
Federally qualified subsistence users may use dip nets, beach seines, fish wheels, and rod and reel throughout the closure in all federal public waters. Coho salmon may not be retained, though all other salmon and non-salmon species may be retained.
