Recent tracking efforts show low numbers of king salmon returning to Chilkat River, but definitive numbers won’t be known until about the Fourth of July, sportfish biologist Rich Chapell of Alaska Department of Fish and Game said this week.
“We’re tracking with the lowest years so far for the number of large kings seen in the Chilkat River,” Chapell said, matching three other years. He noted that escapement was reached in some of those three years.
Fish and Game started using drift gillnets June 9 in the Chilkat to sample the return, capturing only one mature king, a female. Fish wheels, where counts started June 7, have caught 11 immature “jack” kings.
It’s too early to tell if the run is late or diminished, Chapell said. “They return in pulses. By the Fourth of July, we’ll have a much better idea.”
Sport fishing is prohibited in Chilkat Inlet through July 15 to try to preserve the king return.
Subsistence fishing in Chilkat Inlet is closed through July 14. Starting July 15, it will be allowed south of Kochu Island. The inlet opens to subsistence July 22.
“By then, all the kings are out of Chilkat Inlet and up the river,” Chapell said.
Escapement of large kings to spawning grounds has fallen below a minimum escapement range goal of 1,850 in four of the past five years. King escapement from 1991-2000 averaged 4,732 mature fish per year.
The decline, mirrored by diminished king returns throughout Southeast, is suspected to be connected to marine conditions. Biologists say numbers of young fish returning to the ocean from the Chilkat has been sufficient to reach escapement goals.