Last year's king and silver salmon runs at Anchorage's Ship Creek were almost non-existent. The sport fisheries had to be canceled, but as the time comes for the first salmon to return to Ship Creek this year, there is hope and anticipation for what the 2025 run will look like.
Alaska lawmakers from fishing-dependent communities say they have ideas for ways to rescue the state’s beleaguered seafood industry, with a series of bills likely to follow.
The number of Alaska salmon harvested by commercial fishers was the third smallest since all-species records began in 1985, according to the Alaska Beacon. The value to harvesters, when adjusted for inflation, was the lowest reported since 1975, state officials said.
As rules and regulations continue to be updated throughout the fishing season, there’s one order that will not change. All dipnet fisheries in the Upper Cook Inlet are closed, including Kenai, Kasilof, Susitna River and Fish Creek.
Salmon are synonymous with the state of Alaska, which is why former Gov. Bill Walker in 2016 established Aug. 10 of each year as Alaska Wild Salmon Day.
With dipnetting season coming to a close with July on the Kenai, anglers are trading out their fish nets for fly rods, as sockeyes continue their way up the river.
Sport fishing at Ship Creek is closed, but the Kasilof River is also open to fishing for hatchery King Salmon. The fishing has been red hot for reds, with over 100,000 sockeyes counted on the Kasilof River sonar.
Sometimes, when we finally hook on and reel in, we can’t help but take a fish frame. Now, after that fish is released back or put in the freezer, those photos can turn into prizes from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Alaska has up to 12 months to restructure or create new water quality standards after EPA announced that the current standards needed to be adjusted to match the accurate amount of fish consumption in the state.
For many fishermen around the 49th state, there’s no better feeling than reeling in a King Salmon, but for one day a year on the Ninilchick River, it’s Alaska’s youth that gets to have that joy all to themselves.
Accessibility is one of the many reasons Alaska is a prime fishing state, and the number of stocked lakes within the Southcentral region makes the opportunity even greater.
The hotspot of Twentymile River is still providing buckets full of the small, smelly smelt, with anglers seeing success this week a few hours before high tide.
Another season of prime fishing is ahead of us. But before filling that first bucket full of salmon, the state requires all anglers to purchase a sport fishing license.
In late August, Joe Chmeleck, owner of The Lodge at Otter Cover in Homer, reeled in a rock greenling with colors so vibrant, it went viral on Facebook.
With fish derbies all across the state, all year long, there may not have hooked just a big fish, but a big cash prize. The popular and historic Valdez Fish Derbies concluded September 3rd featuring some hefty halibut and some stout silver salmon.
Rain or shine, fish are on the line. However, fewer and fewer fish are entering the once popular and productive creeks of Campbell, Bird and Ship in the Anchorage-area.
In 2016, Gov. Bill Walker signed House Bill 128 into law establishing August 10 of each year as Alaska Wild Salmon Day While the day is celebrated once a year, salmon are a way of life for many Alaskans.
When it comes to casting a line on the Kenai River, there seems to be no shortage of places to fish. However, you can come away with a shortage of fish if you don’t know what you’re doing.
It is that time of the fishing season where we say “so long” to king salmon with harvesting closing mid-July, and we greet with a “hello” silvers in the early stages of their run, and fishermen don’t have to venture too far from the Anchorage area to catch some coho.
Dipnetting on the Kenai has opened for personal use salmon fishing, with hundreds of thousands of sockeye harvested annually from July 10 through July 31.
Digging for clams on the Ninilchik beaches is digging up some old memories. Thousands of people from near and far flocked to the once-popular clamming area from July 1-4 in hopes of leaving with a limit of 15 razor clams per day.
The beauty of fishing is that it can be enjoyed by all walks of life, no matter the age or experience — except for one day a year in Ninilchik where king salmon fishing is only available to the future fishermen and women of Alaska 15 years and younger.
Sport fishing season is o-fish-ally here in Alaska, but before going out to enjoy the diverse opportunities the state provides, residents must get a sport fishing license, which can be obtained online through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game mobile app, their office, or a local vendor.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game begins the Alaska Board of Fisheries. One of the topics the board is covering is Proposal 140, limiting commercial fishing near the Aleutian Islands.
The Alaska’s News Source crew has been all around the state this year searching for Fishing Report stories far and wide, here are some of the highlights from what was an action packed season.
"We always encourage folks to have a back up plan as we know phones can die they can get wet there are all kinds of things that can happen so we do encourage people to consider that when they go out into the field and you have that on your phone you still might want to have a back up resource paper hard copy within your close proximity in the event something happens to your phone
