Mark-recapture surveys in the lower Chilkat River suggest the local king salmon return may be the weakest in 20 years, according to Brian Elliott, assistant area fisheries biologist for the Sport Fish Division of Fish and Game.
Through Sunday, the state’s drift nets had caught only 31 mature kings. As the survey typically counts 3.9 percent of the total run and 98 percent of the run typically has passed through the lower river by the…