Contact:
Robert Begich
Area Management Biologist
Phone: (907) 262-9368
July 06, 2012
Retention of king salmon in the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery that occurs from July 10 through July 31 each year will be prohibited in 2012. Any king salmon caught may not be removed from the water and must be released immediately unharmed.
Based upon the preseason forecast, the 2012 Kenai River king salmon run was expected to be below average. Based upon the poor performance of king salmon stocks in Cook Inlet and other areas of the state, it is likely the Kenai River late-run king salmon stock will also experience poor performance and require conservative management. Initial indicators of Kenai River late-run strength are below average. The department has no information indicating that the Kenai River late-run will experience average or above average run strength.
The low abundance of late-run king salmon in the Kenai River during the 2011 fishing season necessitated restrictions to the sport, personal use, and commercial fisheries. The 2012 late-run king salmon sport fishery was restricted from using bait in the Kenai River. Therefore, as directed by the Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan, the personal use fishery will be managed to conserve king salmon in an effort to avoid additional restrictions or closure to the sport fishery.
For information on Kenai River king salmon visit our website at:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/index.cfm?ADFG=main.home.
-END-