(KCAW Photo/Berett Wilber)
Southeast Alaska’s king salmon troll fishery will open for a second time in August, but the late summer opener will not be competitive. In a press release last week (7-16-25), the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it would instead allow trollers to take an equal share of the remaining allocated summer kings.
In July, 460 trollers caught around 44,000 Chinook salmon over the first four-day opener of the summer season, leaving around 9,000 remaining treaty salmon. That allocation is set by the Pacific Salmon Commission, under the terms of a treaty between the US and Canada, and this year it’s a record low.
State fisheries managers say too few kings remain to allow for a competitive opener in August. Instead, the state will hold a “limited harvest fishery” which allows trollers to catch a certain number of Chinook salmon over 10 days.
The state hasn’t yet announced exactly how many fish each troller will be allocated for the second opening. Permit holders must register for the noncompetitive fishery by noon on August 1.
