Fishing Dilemma
Lower Kenai River, Jim Creek See New Fishing Changes
The lower Kenai River will again be legal for bait and multiple hooks effective Thursday, as state officials lifted a previous emergency order banning their usebut imposed new bag and possession limits for coho salmon on Jim Creek. more...
Kenai River Sonar System Uses New Technology to Count Kings
To fish or not to fish. That has been the big question this summer on the Kenai Peninsula. And the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s new DIDSON sonar system has played a deciding role in that. more...
Cook Inlet East Side Setnetters Fish Despite Sport Fishermen's Protests
After weeks of being shut out of their fishery, East Side Cook Inlet Setnetters put their nets in the water on Monday, their first opportunity to fish since July 16. more...
Alaska Canada Treaty: Poor King Salmon Returns Could Affect Obligation
Poor king salmon returns on Alaska's rivers mean that a treaty obligation with Canada likely won't be met. more...
Kenai River Setnetters Await Daily Approval to Fish
Hard-hit setnet fishermen in Kenai are sitting on pins and needles Wednesday, as the state's fisheries board voted to wait and reassess daily whether to allow setnetters to put their equipment into the water. As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, the board had not approved setnet fishing Thursday, a delay that has the setnetters on edge. A poor king salmon run has drastically cut the income of more than 400 licensed setnetters in Kenai. If they don't get permission to catch other types of salmon before the season runs out, this summer will amount to a near-total loss. According to setnet fisherman Gary Hollier, his catch is off by 30 percent this year. He says he knows other setnetters" who are down 90 percent, and believes some may go out of business. While the setnetters are devastated, Kenai City Manager Rick Koch says other aspects of the Kenai economy are intact. He says energy is a big component of the local economy, and projects growth of 3 to 5 percent this year -- in conjunction with a good driftnet season. Koch admits that the economic situation for setnetters is dire. As Kenai setnetters continue to struggle, the Mat-Su Borough is chiming in on what has been something of a salmon crisis for sport fishermen there. Bruce Knowles, the chairman of the borough's Fish and Game Commission, says that area sockeye and coho salmon runs in the Borough are low. It's news that comes on the heels of an early termination of the Susitna River's king salmon run, another economically painful blow to the region. more...
Another Emergency Board of Fisheries Meeting Called to Address Kenai King Salmon Crisis
The fish wars on the Kenai Peninsula rage on, with the sport fishing industry taking steps to prevent more commercial fishing in August. more...
Collapsing King Salmon Runs Devastate Kenai Tourism Economy
Collapsing king salmon runs have been causing some Kenai Peninsula businesses, including guide services, bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants, to suffer through their worst season in decades. more...
Cook Inlet East Side Setnetters Continue to Fight to Open Red Salmon Fishery
The Kenai River king salmon crisis intensified on Tuesday. More than 200 setnetters, who work the east side of Cook Inlet gathered for another emotional meeting at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association offices on Kalifornski road. more...
Southwest Alaska Tribal Organization Seeks Clemency from Governor for Kuskokwim Fishermen
The regional tribal government in Southwest Alaska says the state has turned a group of fishermen into criminals, when they were only trying to feed their families, according to tribal leadership. more...
Kenai Setnetters Protest Kenai River Sockeye Fishery
Commercial setnet fishermen rallied at a park in Kenai on Friday, and then took to the streets to protest fishing closures aimed at protecting king salmon. Nearly 200 people took part in the rally -- the same day that Gov. Sean Parnell announced that a team of top researchers and scientists is being formed to take a comprehensive look at why king salmon returns to Alaska's rivers are dismal again this summer. In Kenai, a steady stream of people took their turn at the microphone, with many questioning politics and biological management of king salmon. more...
Kenai River Opens to 24-Hour Personal Use Dipnetting Friday Night
The Kenai River will be open 24 hours a day to personal-use dipnetting beginning Friday night, with higher bag and possession limits for some salmon after projections of a strong sockeye run this year. more...
Kenai and Kasilof River King Salmon Fishing to Close Thursday
Kenai and Kasilof River king salmon fishing will close Thursday, with closures also affecting parts of Cook Inlet, in the latest and most drastic example of numerous fishing restrictions imposed by state officials this year to protect low salmon runs. more...
Kenai River Chinook Salmon Fishery Closure Begins Monday
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has announced all subsistence fishing on the Kenai river for Chinook salmon will close on Monday. The closure is from the outlet of Skilak Lake. It begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday and will run through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 31st. more...
Kenai River Dipnetters Won't Be Allowed To Keep Kings
The Kenai River personal-use dipnet fishery opens on Tuesday, but king salmon will be off-limits. more...
Alaska King Salmon Shortages Produce Closures, Restrictions
Alaska king salmon shortages produced emergency orders Tuesday from federal and state authorities, closing the Kenai River to fishing for kings and restricting fishing on the Kasilof River until at least the end of the month. more...
Fishermen: Low Salmon Returns Likely has Complex Cause
Representatives from both commercial and sport fishermen say more may be behind this year's poor salmon returns than just the accidental netting of unwated salmon, known as commercial bycatch. more...
Federal, State Authorities Deny Confiscating Subsistence Camps' Fish
Federal and state authorities emphatically denied claims by Southwest Alaska residents Thursday that officials were confiscating fish from subsistence fishing camps, as decreased salmon runs statewide have led to fishing bans deeply unpopular with rural Alaskans. more...
Susitna River Drainage Closes to Sport Fishing for Kings Monday
The Susitna River drainage became the latest area of Alaska to be targeted for a king salmon closure Friday, as the state Department of Fish and Game banned sport fishing for kings in the region effective Monday morning. more...
Emergency Orders Might Interfere with Father's Day Sport Fishing Plans
A lot of dads are planning to do some recreational fishing thisfather's dayweekend, but before they head out, they might want to read the fine print, because emergency orders are in place -- anticipating yet another summer of low king salmon runs. more...
Kenai River Fishing Restrictions Go Into Effect Friday
Restrictions on king salmon fishing on the Kenai River go into effect Friday, according to the AK Department of Fish & Game. more...
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