Area Sport Fishing Reports
North Gulf Coast/Resurrection Bay

fish Scales Season Text
Anchorage, North Gulf Coast, Prince William Sound
Sport Fish Management Areas
King Salmon
Ship Creek

King salmon fishing in Ship Creek was good this season. A total of 1,128 king salmon were collected in the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery raceway. The hatchery was able to meet the broodstock goal of 608 king salmon. An estimated 1,326 king salmon were counted in Ship Creek for viewing and natural reproduction below the hatchery

Management Actions

No management actions were implemented during the 2023 sport fishery season.

Prince William Sound

King salmon fishing was fair in Whittier and good in Cordova. Both locations are terminal harvest areas. Throughout the summer more reports of king salmon getting caught towards Main Bay in the south and Glacier Island towards the north were reported. No formal surveys are conducted for king salmon in Prince William Sound.

Management Actions

No management actions were implemented during the 2023 sport fishery season.

North Gulf Coast/Resurrection Bay

King salmon fishing was fair in Resurrection Bay. Angler reports indicated that the king salmon fishing in the Bay was slow, and fish seemed to be returning later and in lower numbers.

Management Actions

On July 1, 2023, the youth fishery for king salmon in the Seward Lagoon and Outfall stream was extended through July 16, 2023.

Sockeye Salmon
Resurrection Bay

Anglers reported good sockeye salmon fishing in Resurrection Bay. On June 23, 2023, 7,284 sockeye salmon passed through the Bear Creek weir, with good numbers of sockeye salmon still entering the river at that time. Bear Lake sockeye salmon have a sustainable escapement goal (SEG) of 700 - 8,300 fish and is managed to escape 12,200 sockeye salmon, which meets both the SEG and the Trail Lakes Hatchery broodstock requirements. The final escapement (excluding broodstock) was approximately 10,004 sockeye salmon.

Management Actions

On June 26, 2023, in marine waters of Resurrection Bay north of a line from Caines Head to the north point of Thumb Cove and the freshwaters open to sockeye salmon fishing, the bag and possession limits for sockeye salmon were increased to twelve fish.

Prince William Sound

Sockeye salmon fishing in the Coghill River was reported as fair to good this season. The final weir count on July 26, 2023 was 64,212 sockeye salmon through the Coghill River weir. The sockeye salmon SEG for the Coghill River is 20,000 - 60,000 fish.

Management Actions

No management actions were implemented during the 2023 sport fishery season.

Coho Salmon
Ship Creek

Coho salmon fishing in Ship Creek this season was reported as good. The William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery collected 2,088 coho salmon for broodstock. Division of Sport Fish staff have not conducted a final coho survey in Ship Creek due to high water, but plan to as soon as conditions allow.

Management Actions

On August 15, 2023, the coho salmon bag and possession limits were increased to six fish in Ship Creek from its mouth upstream to a cable 100 feet downstream of the Chugach Power Plant dam.

Resurrection Bay

Coho salmon fishing in Resurrection Bay was fair to good this season. While coho salmon returning to the Seward Lagoon were late this season, fishing picked up in mid-September and was reported as fair to good for shore anglers. Fishing at the mouth of Resurrection River was reportedly poor to fair this season for coho salmon. As of October 3, 2023, 959 coho salmon have entered the Bear Creek weir which should provide adequate escapement for broodstock goals. Escapement surveys will not be conducted for coho salmon due to budget cuts.

Management Actions

On September 6, 2023, the youth fishery for coho salmon in the Seward Lagoon and Outfall stream was extended through October 1, 2023.

Prince William Sound

Coho salmon fishing has been fair to good near Whittier and in Passage Canal, as well as in Valdez near Allison point and in the Valdez Narrows. Coho salmon fishing at Fleming Spit was the best that has been observed in many years. It has not been determined yet if broodstock goals have been met by the Valdez Fisheries Development Association (VFDA) and Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation hatcheries (PWSAC). Currently the VFDA in Valdez has collected enough coho salmon and it is anticipated that they will be able to meet their egg take goal. Egg takes for these locations occur as late as November. Both Whittier and Cordova are stocked by PWSAC and are terminal harvest areas. In Valdez, coho salmon are stocked by VFDA. No formal surveys are conducted for coho salmon in Prince William Sound, except for on the Copper River Delta.

Management Actions

No management actions have been implemented during the 2023 sport fishery season.

Copper River Delta

Coho salmon fishing on the Copper River Delta has been good. Water conditions were high much of the early season with some normal periods of low fishable water and many high-water events. Based on aerial surveys, as of late September, the Copper River Delta coho salmon return is anticipated to meet the SEG of 32,000 - 67,000 fish. The coho salmon return is still being assessed.

Management Actions

No management actions were implemented during the 2023 sport fishery season

Shrimp
Prince William Sound

The total allowable harvest (TAH) of 157,819 pounds was established from the results of the fall 2022 Prince William Sound shrimp survey. The 2023 guideline harvest level (GHL) for the noncommercial (sport and subsistence) shrimp fishery harvest was established to be 94,700 pounds. This was very similar to the TAH and GHL established for the 2022 season. Approximately 4,375 noncommercial permits were issued in 2023. Effort and harvest are assessed post-season after harvest reports are received. Anecdotal reports from permit holders indicate that shrimping was fair to good this season.

Management Actions

A preseason emergency order effective April 15, 2023, reduced the number of allowable noncommercial shrimp pots per person and per vessel to two pots in areas near the ports of Valdez and Whittier, and three pots in outer areas of Prince William Sound.

Rockfish
Prince William Sound

The harvest of rockfish has increased, and sustainable levels of rockfish harvest are currently unknown. Preliminary stock assessment work was reviewed in spring 2023 and changes in the biological data along with the increased harvest are indicators of a possible change in the population structure of rockfish in this area. In addition, harvest rates of yelloweye rockfish specifically appear to be unsustainable into the future and a seasonal restriction was put in place to reduce harvest and protect these fish during the period of time that females are gravid and release larvae. The 2023 harvest information will not be finalized until the fall of 2024.

Management Actions

Effective May 1 - June 30, 2023, no retention of yelloweye rockfish was allowed in the Prince William Sound Management Area.

Effective May 1 - December 31, the bag and possession limit for all rockfish was reduced to 3 per day and 6 in possession.

North Gulf Coast/Resurrection Bay

The harvest of rockfish has increased, and sustainable levels of rockfish harvest are currently unknown. Preliminary stock assessment work was reviewed in spring 2023 and changes in the biological data along with the increased harvest are indicators of a possible change in the population structure of rockfish in this area. The 2023 harvest information will not be finalized until the fall of 2024.

Management Actions

Effective May 15 - December 31, 2023, the bag and possession limit for rockfish was reduced to 3 per day and 6 in possession.

See the printable PDF version, which includes a table of Region II Escapement Goals and Escapements - including some prior years.