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April 5, 2026
Alaska Beacon
By Yereth Rosen
(Alaska Beacon) — Fishers in Southeast Alaska will be allowed to harvest 205,300 Chinook salmon this year, returning to a normal total after last year’s ultra-low harvest limit.
The Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest total, set in accordance with the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, was announced this week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Last year’s Southeast Chinook catch limit of 133,500 fish was the lowest in any year since the Pacific Salmon Treaty went into effect in 1985, according to the department.
Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, make up the smallest total harvest of Alaska’s five species of salmon. But they are also sold at a premium, usually fetching the highest market prices. Those that swim in Southeast Alaska waters are the subject of management from different jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, through the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The treaty is necessary because the fish are highly migratory and swim through and spawn in various locations, said Dani Evenson, Pacific Salmon Treaty and Arctic Policy Coordinator for the department’s Division of Commercial Fisheries.
“They kind of ignore things like international borders and jurisdictions, and they’re going to do what they do,” Evenson said. “And so we have this treaty where we share the burden of conservation, we share the available catch. And it’s a shared resource.”
Along with Alaska and the federal governments of the U.S. and Canada, participants in the treaty process include Washington state, Oregon, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and tribal governments.
Southeast Chinook salmon are the only Alaska salmon for which a numerical harvest cap is set each year, Evenson said.
Alaska’s cap and those for the other jurisdictions covered by the treaty are the products of analysis conducted by regional panels and technical committees. Those panels and committees provide information to the bilateral Pacific Salmon Commission, the decision-making body under the treaty.
Last year’s record-low cap reflected what appeared to be poor conditions for the region’s highly prized Chinook. Evenson said the slashed harvest levels posed a hardship on some fishing dependent communities.
“Last year was terrible,” she said.
It turned out, as determined through post-season analysis, that last year’s harvest cap was overly conservative and that another 53,800 Chinook salmon could have been safely caught by Southeast Alaska fishers, she said.
Improvements in abundance and ocean conditions support this year’s increased catch limits, Evenson said. Nonetheless, the overall harvest limit is at a level considered “judicious,” in light of conservation challenges facing various Chinook stocks and the contention over harvest allocations.
“Chinook have been a flashpoint,” she said. “It seems prudent to approach more cautiously.”
As determined by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, most of this year’s Southeast Alaska Chinook catch – 146,000 fish, about three quarters of the total — is allocated to harvesters who use troll gear. Salmon trolling involves hooking individual fish, and those caught in that method fetch high prices because they can be iced quickly and handled carefully, thus maintaining high quality.
The next largest total, 43,600 fish, is allocated to sport anglers, according to the Board of Fisheries decision. The remainder of the Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest is allocated to fishers who use nets and are targeting other salmon species but catch some Chinooks incidentally.
Alaska Beacon is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government. Alaska, like many states, has seen a decline in the coverage of state news. We aim to reverse that.
By Yereth Rosen
(Alaska Beacon) — Fishers in Southeast Alaska will be allowed to harvest 205,300 Chinook salmon this year, returning to a normal total after last year’s ultra-low harvest limit.
The Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest total, set in accordance with the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, was announced this week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Last year’s Southeast Chinook catch limit of 133,500 fish was the lowest in any year since the Pacific Salmon Treaty went into effect in 1985, according to the department.
Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, make up the smallest total harvest of Alaska’s five species of salmon. But they are also sold at a premium, usually fetching the highest market prices. Those that swim in Southeast Alaska waters are the subject of management from different jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, through the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The treaty is necessary because the fish are highly migratory and swim through and spawn in various locations, said Dani Evenson, Pacific Salmon Treaty and Arctic Policy Coordinator for the department’s Division of Commercial Fisheries.
“They kind of ignore things like international borders and jurisdictions, and they’re going to do what they do,” Evenson said. “And so we have this treaty where we share the burden of conservation, we share the available catch. And it’s a shared resource.”
Along with Alaska and the federal governments of the U.S. and Canada, participants in the treaty process include Washington state, Oregon, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and tribal governments.
Southeast Chinook salmon are the only Alaska salmon for which a numerical harvest cap is set each year, Evenson said.
Alaska’s cap and those for the other jurisdictions covered by the treaty are the products of analysis conducted by regional panels and technical committees. Those panels and committees provide information to the bilateral Pacific Salmon Commission, the decision-making body under the treaty.
Last year’s record-low cap reflected what appeared to be poor conditions for the region’s highly prized Chinook. Evenson said the slashed harvest levels posed a hardship on some fishing dependent communities.
“Last year was terrible,” she said.
It turned out, as determined through post-season analysis, that last year’s harvest cap was overly conservative and that another 53,800 Chinook salmon could have been safely caught by Southeast Alaska fishers, she said.
Improvements in abundance and ocean conditions support this year’s increased catch limits, Evenson said. Nonetheless, the overall harvest limit is at a level considered “judicious,” in light of conservation challenges facing various Chinook stocks and the contention over harvest allocations.
“Chinook have been a flashpoint,” she said. “It seems prudent to approach more cautiously.”
As determined by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, most of this year’s Southeast Alaska Chinook catch – 146,000 fish, about three quarters of the total — is allocated to harvesters who use troll gear. Salmon trolling involves hooking individual fish, and those caught in that method fetch high prices because they can be iced quickly and handled carefully, thus maintaining high quality.
The next largest total, 43,600 fish, is allocated to sport anglers, according to the Board of Fisheries decision. The remainder of the Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest is allocated to fishers who use nets and are targeting other salmon species but catch some Chinooks incidentally.
Alaska Beacon is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government. Alaska, like many states, has seen a decline in the coverage of state news. We aim to reverse that.
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