The Southeast Alaska commercial troll fishery will close briefly next week.
In a release on Wednesday (8-5-26), the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that on August 9, the fishery will close for four days. During that time, trollers are prohibited from harvesting Chinook and coho salmon.
The commercial king salmon fishery opened on July 1. Trollers typically catch their target number of kings within a handful of days. This year, lower fleet participation and slower fishing conditions extended the opener beyond five weeks.
State biologists expect trollers will reach their target of 82,000 kings soon, leaving roughly 36,000 to harvest in the second summer opener. That will kick off on August 13, with areas of high king salmon abundance open until further notice. State biologists strongly encourage trollers to contact fishery managers during the retention period to report harvest effort.
During the four-day closure, trollers can target chum salmon in Neets Bay, West Crawfish Inlet, Crawfish Inlet and Sitka Sound, and pink and sockeye salmon can still be retained.
