Commercial fishers from the Chilkat Valley are reporting success during their first two weeks. The fishery had its first opening on Father’s Day, with 90 boats fishing in District 15, or the Lynn Canal. The first opener lasted two days with an estimated total of 91,658 fish caught. Just over 88,000 of them were chum salmon, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Dawson Evenden, a gillnetter from Haines, said many were pleasantly surprised with the volume of fish. Evenden was fishing in Boat Harbor, located about 46 miles south of Haines. Evenden said he was mainly going after the chum salmon, which people were chasing in the southern end of the Lynn Canal, rather than the sockeyes in the northern end.
Greg Smith, communications director for Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said that there is a “strong demand for seafood in Alaska,” as well as across the U.S. and around the world. ASMI’s outlook report for the 2026 chum run reports that over the past three years, Japan’s chum run has collapsed.
The chum price per pound last year in Southeast last year was 66 cents. As of June 30, the price per pound for chums sits at $1.35 — a number that many said they have not seen in years.
“It’s a good price for both (sockeyes and chum) but with a good price for chum, it doesn’t take very many to add up,” Evenden said. He is mainly going after chums because of their size and abundance in the canal.
Tenders from the Haines Packing Company and Silver Bay Seafoods in Sitka bought fish harvested during the first opener. Despite repeated phone calls and messages left with both processors, neither responded to questions about their plans for this year’s fishing season.
The Haines Harbor makes salt ice, using pool salt, for fishers to pick up before heading out. Harbormaster Henry Pollan said they typically make 16 to 26 tons of ice per opener, depending on the demand and how many boats are in the harbor before the opener starts.
Down on the dock on Friday afternoon, Rebecca Brewer was mending gillnets after various setbacks impacted fishers during the first opener. She named the highlights of the first opener as “big shreds,” including an Alaska Marine Lines tug and barge running through a net, a sport boat hitting another net, and someone else wrapping their net around an island.
“It’s been a heck of a week for repairs. We’ve been working nonstop all week,” Brewer said. She has been doing net repairs for 18 seasons.
Gillnetter Cynthia Adams left last weekend planning to be out on the ocean for most of the summer.
“We’re going to try and hit it hard,” Adams said, with Boat Harbor being a main anchorage location. She said this was at least her 27th year gillnetting and captaining. Adams and deckhand Lucia Chapell are likely the only all-woman crew in the local fleet. Adams said the highest price she has seen for chum was a dollar. Last year, the price was not very good, however there were a lot of fish, Adams said.
“It seems like if the price is good, there aren’t as many fish,” she said. “The price is bad, there’s a lot of fish.” This year however, the price is good and there are a lot of fish.
Adams brought flowers and a suitcase of food from Trader Joe’s to enjoy while out on the water. She said they will enjoy salads and roasted veggies, with the goal of nurturing “your physical being because it’s hard work out there.” Fishing is open from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., due to a night closure enacted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
“It’s just nice to be comfortable and have some fun things like flowers to cheer you up if it’s rainy, if you’re working hard,” Adams said.
The gillnet season lasts until late September or October, depending on weather conditions and fish abundance.
“July is our big month. We work really hard and the [Southeast State Fair] is kind of the light at the end of the tunnel,” Adams said. She is boycotting the fair this year because the date is a week early compared with previous years. “It’s right in the middle of some of the best fishing we have.”
Kyle Clayton went out during the first opener with veteran fisher J.R. Churchill, who showed him what hazards to keep an eye out for in the canal and around Mab Island. Clayton was a deckhand in Bristol Bay for eight seasons. This year is both his first season fishing in the Lynn Canal and his first time running his own boat. He said the Bristol Bay fishery was a much faster pace and had a shorter amount of fishing time compared with the Lynn Canal fishery that is “a little more sustained throughout the weeks.”
Editor’s note: Kyle Clayton is a former owner of the Chilkat Valley News.