Photo: Terese Vicente/KRITFC
2025 Salmon Co-Management and Fishing Review
The 2025 season was the tenth year of KRITFC co-management under our Memorandum of Understanding with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Working with our USFWS partners at Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, our Tribal In-Season Managers considered in-season data and Traditional Knowledge to ensure that people along the river had opportunities to fish while still aiming to conserve and restore salmon for future generations. While the preliminary runs for Chinook and chum were promising, both species’ daily numbers dropped considerably after an initial wave of fish, prompting continued conservation closures. While the early coho salmon run similarly seemed strong, in-season data in 2025 was limited, as was the ability to compare it to previous abundant years. Coupled with the story of Chinook and chum salmon this year, our co-management team was uncertain about how coho salmon would progress. Determined to protect salmon abundance as well as our fishing traditions, our KRITFC-USFWS co-management waited to lift conservation restrictions until they had more certainty in the 2025 run size, as well as data from in-season harvest estimates that fishing pressure had greatly reduced.
“Thanks to the dedication and considerations of our in-season managers, who remained diligent and did not lift fishing restrictions too early despite outside pressures, we anticipate escapement goals for Chinook, chum, and coho salmon will be met. We congratulate our co-managers on another successful season,” shares Kevin Whitworth, Executive Director.
To our 2025 In-Season Managers Betty Magnuson, Tracy Simeon, Mike Williams Sr., Henry Hunter Sr., and Paul Cleveland, and our Elder Advisors James Nicori and Nick Alexia Sr.: Quyana, Dogidinh, Chin'an, Tsen'anh!
KUSKOKWIM BAY FISHERY UPDATE
In the Kuskokwim Bay/Quinhagak region, subsistence fishing this season was open 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, with fishing closures on Sundays from June 1 to July 15, per ADFG Emergency Order. Since July 15, fishing in the Bay has been open 24/7. There were no commercial openings in the Kuskokwim Bay because of a lack of a buyer.
Though there are no formal in-season harvest estimates for the Kuskokwim Bay, we heard that smokehouses filled up in coastal communities, which is great news.
LOWER KUSKOKWIM FISHERY UPDATE
For the 2025 fishing season, KRITFC and USFWS were dedicated to co-managing the salmon runs in federal waters of the Kuskokwim River. Abiding by the goals and objectives set forth in our joint Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Strategy, our In-Season Managers were committed to taking a conservation-based approach to management to rebuild the Chinook, chum, and coho salmon populations within the Kuskokwim River watershed.
Federal waters of the lower Kuskokwim River main stem––defined as the mouth of the Kuskokwim to the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge boundary in Aniak––were generally closed to gillnet fishing throughout the season, and the pool of eligible fishers was largely limited to Federally Qualified Subsistence Users (essentially, local rural residents of the Kuskokwim region). Between June 3 and August 5, there were 15 gillnet fishing opportunities for fishers on the Lower Kuskokwim, varying in length from 12 hours to 19 days. Additionally, on June 19, the section of the Kuskokwim from the Kalskag Line at the Kalskag Bluffs and Uknavik Slough to Aniak opened to 24/7 gillnet fishing, and rod and reel fishing for all species within the federal waters of the Kuskokwim opened on July 27.
Based on information gathered through the Community-Based Harvest Monitoring Program, it is estimated that at least 92,000 salmon have been harvested by Federally Qualified Subsistence Users between Tuluksak and Tuntutuliak during the announced opportunities. It is important to note that these in-season harvest estimates do not include salmon harvests from non-spawning tributaries (like Kailik, Johnson, or Gweek Rivers) or using selective gear (like dipnets), which were open for fishing outside of announced opportunities.
When KRITFC-USFWS management rescinded on August 7, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADFG) resumed salmon management throughout the Kuskokwim. ADFG opened subsistence fishing 24/7 using gillnets and other legal subsistence gear on August 7 and announced a series of commercial coho salmon openings for registered catcher/sellers in District 1 through August.
MIDDLE & UPPER KUSKOKWIM RIVER UPDATES
During USFWS and KRITFC management in the lower Kuskokwim, ADFG managed salmon fisheries from Aniak to the headwaters, with advice from the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group.
ADFG instated early-season closures to protect the first run of Chinook salmon between June 9 to June 12. On June 9, selective gear (like fish wheels, dipnets, and hook and line) opened, but king salmon had to be returned alive to the river. Since June 12, drift and set gillnet fishing with 6” mesh has been open 24/7 in the middle and upper Kuskokwim and retention of all salmon was permitted, except in state waters of the Aniak Box and Aniak River.
For archived management announcements from this season, visit our 2025 Fishing Info page, or read our 2025 In-Season Newsletters.
2025 End of Season Preliminary Assessment
Based on historical run timing, Kuskokwim River Chinook, chum, and sockeye runs and fisheries have concluded, and coho salmon runs are now mostly past Bethel. Here are some of our preliminary assessments about the 2025 salmon runs.
This year, the Chinook salmon run was early and started strong. Numbers at the Bethel sonar site suggested a large run when compared to recent selected years, but daily counts plateaued around the 50% run mark. The preliminary 2025 Chinook salmon run estimate was 4% below the 2018-2024 average. KRITFC In-Season Managers and local fishers reported larger and more abundant Chinook salmon harvests than in recent years, and the month of June was sunny, dry, and windy, making for good fish drying weather. This is a cause for celebration amongst Kuskokwim fishers even as we still strive to rebuild stocks to former abundance levels.
Chum salmon also came early and started strong. Numbers at the Bethel sonar site suggested a large run when compared to recent selected years, but daily counts plateaued around the 50% run passage mark. The preliminary 2025 chum salmon run estimate was 33% below the 2018-2024 average. KRITFC In-Season Managers and local fishers reported fewer chum salmon than expected, but chum salmon that were caught were good-sized and healthy.
The 2025 sockeye run was a large run, compared to recent years. The preliminary 2025 sockeye salmon run estimate was 24% above the 2018-2024 average. KRITFC In-Season Managers and local fishers reported abundant sockeye salmon, mixed between large and small fish. In the Bethel area, more people have been using dipnets, which can be used 24/7, to harvest sockeye salmon while gillnet fishing is closed to protect Chinook and chum salmon running at the same time.
As of August 24, the last day of operation at the sonar, over 90% of the run had likely passed the Bethel sonar site, based on historic run timing. The coho run came earlier than recent years and seemed strong from the get-go, making this a “good” run when compared to previous years. However, though there is minimal run size data from years of coho salmon abundance (years before 2018), subsistence and commercial harvests from pre-2018 (for example, those in the 1980s used to average over 500,000 fish, not including escapement) indicate the 2025 run is still below historical abundance levels. KRITFC In-Season Managers and local fishers reported more abundant coho salmon than in previous years, as well as decreased pressure to harvest coho because of stronger Chinook salmon catches. This, and the growing certainty in the run size data from the Kuskokwim sonar, led to the rescinding of federal management on August 7.
The KRITFC biology team is currently analyzing the data from in-season monitoring projects along the Kuskokwim River. We plan to have our official End-of-Season Summary available in the coming months. For the 2024 End-of-Season Summary, click here.