2025 Fishing Information
KRITFC In-Season Managers, Executive Council members, Elder Advisors, and staff are actively working with our collaborative management partners at Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge to prepare for the upcoming salmon season.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game is forecasting a 2025 Chinook salmon return similar to that of 2024, when an estimated 176,000 salmon returned—nearly 144,000 of which were spawners, exceeding the upper-end of the escapement goal range (65,000–120,000) to restore and conserve these stocks. There are not pre-season forecasts for other salmon species on which our communities and ecosystems depend.
Our KRITFC-Yukon Delta NWR team will rely on in-season indicators of salmon abundance to guide our management, as well as Traditional Knowledge, but we anticipate the need for conservation closures to protect the health of present and future Chinook, chum, and coho salmon stocks. Our goal is always to provide as many opportunities for Federally qualified subsistence fishing as we can, even with closures, as outlined in ANILCA Title VIII, as well as in our joint 2025 Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Strategy.
Keep afloat of fishing information this season! Follow us on Facebook, sign up for our email newsletter, join our weekly in-season teleconferences, and check back to this page for regular updates as the season progresses.
Quyana! Dogedinh! Chin’an! Tsen’anh! Thank you!
FEDERAL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS
FSA-YD-25-01: Kuskokwim River Federal Public Waters Closed to Gillnets and the Harvest of Chinook, Chum, and Coho Salmon (issued May 12, 2025; effective June 1, 2025)
First Announcement for Kuskokwim River Fishing Opportunities (issued May 16, 2025)
State Management Actions
Kuskokwim River King Salmon Sport Fishery Closure (effective March 31, 2025)
Kuskokwim River Fishery Announcement #1: Subsistence Fishery Outlook and Preliminary Management Strategy – EO #3-S-WR-01-25 (issued May 9, 2025)
2025 HARVEST ESTIMATES (Between Tuntutuliak and Tuluksak)
Stay tuned for more information as fishing opportunities begin this year.
South Alaska Peninsula (Area M) salmon harvest estimates
As of May 22, 2025, the Area M fishery has not yet started harvesting salmon.
The annual June Area M fisheries are known for intercepting Western and Interior Alaska salmon migrating from the Gulf of Alaska to the Bering Sea. These are total numbers of salmon bycatch and not Kuskokwim-specific salmon. Over time, Western and Interior Alaska chum salmon have made up 18–57% of overall chum salmon landings in the Area M June fishery. Click here for the latest fishery harvest information.
This state fishery is managed by the Alaska Board of Fisheries and Alaska Department of Fish & Game.
Bering Sea Salmon Bycatch Report
As of May 22, 2025, commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea have caught 15,766 Chinook salmon and 1,248 chum salmon as bycatch. These are total numbers of salmon bycatch and not Kuskokwim-specific salmon.
These federal fisheries are managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) and NOAA Fisheries, and they include pollock trawl fisheries. On average, 40-50% of all Chinook salmon and 12-20% of all chum salmon bycatch in Bering Sea pollock trawl fisheries are of Western and Interior Alaska origin.
2025 FISHING NEWS
Pursuant to authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) In-Season Manager, hereby announces five gillnet fishing opportunities within the YDNWR boundary in the Kuskokwim River mainstem for Federally qualified subsistence users only.