Northwest Drainages Management Area
Overview

The Northwestern Management Area includes all waters that drain west in Alaska that are north of the Yukon River and south of Point Hope. This includes all the drainages of Norton Sound, the Seward Peninsula, Kotzebue Sound and the Chukchi Sea to Point Hope. The total land area is about 68,000 square miles. Sport fisheries in the area target all species of pacific salmon, Dolly Varden, Sheefish, Arctic grayling, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic char, and to a small degree, burbot.

The Seward Peninsula Norton Sound sub area extends from the Seward Peninsula southward to the Yukon River. Streams in eastern Norton Sound include the Golsovia, Unalakleet, Egavik, Shaktoolik, Inglutalik, Ungalik and Koyuk rivers. All but the Koyuk drain the Nulato Hills which separate Norton Sound from the Yukon and Koyukuk River valleys. The Unalakleet River is the largest and most heavily utilized of these. The village of Unalakleet is located at the mouth of this river. The upper reaches of the Unalakleet River have been designated a National Wild and Scenic River and are under the management of the Bureau of Land Management. The river supports anadromous populations of Dolly Varden, chinook, coho, chum and pink salmon and resident populations of Dolly Varden, Arctic grayling and whitefish. Other area streams provide the opportunity for high quality fisheries for the same species, but are not as intensively fished because of the difficult access.

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