Salmon News Super Site Devoted To Pacific Salmon News

Districts Affected: Lower Yukon River
Fall Season Assessment

There has been a persistent offshore wind during the past two weeks which may be delaying the fall salmon migration. At this time, no pulses of fall chum salmon have entered the mouth of the Yukon River. The fall season drift test fisheries began operations at Emmonak on July 16 and at Mountain Village on July 17. On July 19, the Pilot Station sonar transitioned to reporting all chum as fall chum salmon. The cumulative sonar estimate through July 26 is approximately 16,000 fall chum which is well below the average of 100,000 for this date. The low passage estimate is not uncommon for this time of year which typically experiences a lull between the end of the summer chum salmon run and the beginning of the fall chum salmon run. Fall chum salmon are characterized by erratic fluctuations as they enter the mouth of the Yukon River with large pulses of fish often followed by several days of very low passage. Consequently, the fall abundance inseason projection is highly variable until the midpoint of the run, which, on average, occurs around August 8 at the Pilot Station sonar project.

Past seasons have demonstrated that there is a good relationship between the summer and fall chum salmon runs within the same year. Based on this performance relationship with the 2009 summer chum run, the current fall chum salmon run size projection is for a total run size near 650,000 fish. The preceding summer chum salmon total run was slightly below average with late run timing. Since the 4-year old age component was slightly above average, there is optimism that the 4-year old age component of the fall chum salmon run may not experience the failure that the early models suggested. This lends confidence that the fall chum salmon run will be larger than 600,000 and may also be late as the proportion of the fall chum salmon 4-year old age component typically increases as the run progresses. Additionally, a small number of early coho salmon have been observed in the commercial fishery, but the run is not anticipated to start building until around August 8.

Scammon Bay Offshore Test Fishery-drift net project/ADF&G, YDFDA
The project began fall season operations on July 16. A total of 15 chum and 0 coho have been caught since July 26.

Lower Yukon Cooperative Drift Test Fishery - 6.0” mesh/ ADF&G, YDFDA
The cumulative fall chum CPUE is 19.89 through July 26 which is below the average of 176.25 for this date. No coho salmon have been caught in the test fishery project through July 26.

Mountain Village Drift Test Fishery- 5-7/8” mesh/ Asacarasarmiut Traditional Council, BSFA
The cumulative CPUE for fall chum salmon is 145.43 through July 26 which is below the average of 440.38 for this date. One coho salmon has been caught during this same time.

Pilot Station Sonar / ADF&G, YDFDA
The cumulative sonar passage estimate for fall chum salmon through July 26 is 15,984 fish which is below the average of 99,082 for this date. No coho salmon have been estimated passing the sonar through July 26.

Rapids Test Fish Wheel/Rapids Research Center
The project transitioned to reporting all chum as fall chum on July 21. The cumulative count for fall chum through July 26 is 235 which is below the historical average of 511 fish for this date.

Commercial Harvest

Preliminary harvest information for District Y-1:
Period#2: District Y-1 including the Set Net Only Area, 10 hours; July 22, 1:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. July 22.
=> 2,799 chum/19,351 lbs. ($0.70/lb); 61 coho/391 lbs. ($1.00/lb); 22 Chinook/325 lbs. ($5.00/lb)

Preliminary harvest information for District Y-2:
Period #1: 8 hours; July 20, 2:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. July 20.
=> 3,629 chum/22,446 lbs. ($0.70/lb); 16 coho/104 lbs. ($1.00/lb); 75 Chinook/1,075 lbs. ($5.00/lb)

Period#2: 8 hours; July 27, 2:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. July 27.
=> No commercial harvest information at this time.

The preliminary fall season harvest total for Districts Y-1 and Y-2 through July 26 is approximately 10,400 fall chum, 116 coho, and 150 Chinook salmon.

Management Strategies

Based on the fall chum salmon preseason projection and the current appraisal of the summer chum salmon run performance, the fall season will be managed initially as though the fall chum salmon run size will be near 650,000 fish. A run of this size should be sufficient to provide for escapement and subsistence uses with an expected small surplus for commercial harvest. Management will later shift to inseason assessment near the mid-point of the run around August 8 at the Pilot Station sonar project.

During the fall season, subsistence fishing remains open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day in Districts Y-1, Y-2, and Y-3 except for closures 12 hours before, during, and 12 hours after each commercial fishing period. Subsistence fishing in District Y-4 is on a schedule of 5 days a week. Subdistricts 5A, 5B, and 5C will go to a subsistence fishing schedule of 5 days week beginning July 28 and Subdistrict 5D has returned to a schedule 7 days a week which begun July 26.

Fall chum salmon pulses are difficult to predict and early projections suggest there will only be a small surplus available for commercial harvest. As experienced in previous years during this transition time period, catches can be exceptionally low. The current management strategy is to continue to spread harvest by staggering commercial fishing periods during the front half of the run. In the lower river districts, fishermen can expect one period each week in Districts Y-1 and Y-2 with a portion of the harvest saved for upriver allocations.

Current Management

Commercial periods: Y-1 will open for one 10-hour period Wednesday, July 29 from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

The current subsistence fishing schedules in the lower river are as follows:

Coastal District: 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, with unrestricted mesh size gillnets.

Districts Y-1 and Y-2: 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, except 12 hours before, during, and 12 hours after commercial fishing periods with unrestricted mesh size gillnets. For District Y-2 subsistence salmon fishing will close at 2:00 a.m. Monday, July 27, and reopen 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 28. For District Y-1 subsistence salmon fishing will close at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, and reopen 6:00 a.m. Thursday, July 30.

District Y-3: 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, with unrestricted mesh size gillnets.

For subsistence fishing schedules in Districts Y-4, Y-5, and Y-6, consult the Yukon Area Summer Season update.

During the subsistence salmon fishing closures, all gillnets with a mesh size greater than four inches and a length greater than 60 feet must be removed from the water.

Fishermen are encouraged to consult the State of Alaska commercial and subsistence fishing regulations and the federal subsistence fishing regulations before fishing in the Yukon Area.


If you have any questions, please contact the Emmonak ADF&G office at 949-1320. For a 24-hour schedule recording, please call toll-free 1-866-479-7387. Additionally, announcements are available at the following web address: http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/region3/yukhome.php