Kenai River King Salmon - Circling the Drain

WalterH

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
152
Apologies in advance for the long post.

If you want to fast forward to the links at the end, here is the short version, I am hoping to drum up some public comments advocating for stronger conservation efforts for the imperiled king salmon runs on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is holding public meetings in late Feb and taking comments on proposed management actions through Feb 8, 2024.

Here is the long version.


Kenai River Kings – An Endangered Species Needs Our Help

The Kenai River is world famous for both the quantity and quality of its king salmon. Home to the current world-record sport-caught king (97lbs 4 ounces) and 6 of the other top 10 king salmon ever landed, the Kenai, leading up to 2009, averaged 53,000 king salmon returning to the river each year as part of the “late run.” In 2004, 91,000 kings swam into the Kenai River.


Fast forward to the current day. Kenai kings are in trouble with runs the last three years averaging 11.5k-14k fish, the lowest returns on record. Not only are the run sizes as a whole greatly diminished, the runs now consist of fish that are both younger and smaller than has historically been the case. The 7-year-old giants are all but extinct. I have had the chance to lay hands on a few of these magnificent beasts over the years and I can honestly say it is a life changing experience. Sadly, this same opportunity for future anglers may never exist.

IMG_3209.JPG
Much more could be said on both the history and current state of the Kenai kings, but I don’t want to bury the lede here. We are at a very critical juncture for management of the Kenai River kings, one that will play a part in whether or not these special fish continue to exist.


In 2023 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) designated the Kenai River late-run kings a “stock of management concern.” This designation comes with the requirement to put together a management/action plan to help address the causes of decline and, hopefully, help rebuild the run. That recently published plan is below.


The ADFG Board of Fish (BOF) is holding their annual Upper Cook Inlet fisheries meeting February 23-March 6, 2024. The primary purpose of this meeting is to discuss and evaluate proposals for changes in current regulations and management practices, to include the Kenai River and its late-run king salmon.

IMG_E3461.JPG

Another important bit of background. Commercial fishing and personal use set-net fishing for Kenai River sockeye salmon, which overlap with the king salmon runs on the Kenai, and sport fishing for kings in the river are married in the Kenai River management plan. That is, when one user group is restricted from fishing, so is the other. The nets in the inlet and on the beach kill a very significant number of king salmon when they are allowed to fish. As such, when the numbers of kings in the river are projected to be below the “optimal escapement goal” or “OEG,” both the sport fisherman and nets are restricted in a stepped-down manner and if things look bad enough, fishing in the river is shut down entirely and the nets aren’t allowed to fish in the most critical areas.


The way ADFG has typically managed this fishery is that they start the season with a very liberal approach, typically allowing both in-river harvest of kings by the sport fisherman and the sockeye nets to fish in the inlet and off the beach. The way this has played out the last few years is that by the time they realize the king run is tanking and start implementing restrictions, it is already too late, and a bunch of kings have already died while the run falls well short of the low end of the OEG.


A much better approach would be to start the fishing and netting very conservatively, and then as (if?) the king run materializes in acceptable numbers, allow additional harvest, fishing, and netting opportunities.


P1100522.JPG

Commercial fishing and personal use set-netting are huge industries in Alaska and are both sewn into the fabric of the state and many that live here. Many people’s livelihoods and ways of life depend on these practices, and so when ADFG shuts these fisheries down, it negatively impacts a large group of people. These user groups also wield a tremendous amount of political power and influence. As such, ADFG is under a massive amount of pressure to keep the commercial and set-net sockeye fisheries open even in times where it is painfully obvious that the negative impacts to the kings will be unacceptable.


Back to the BOF meeting. At the meeting in February, the BOF will consider a long list of proposed changes to the current regulations governing Kenai kings, among many others.


The current OEG set by ADFG for the late-run Kenai kings is 15,000-30,000 fish. There are currently eight proposals that are lobbying for the OEG TO BE REDUCED, no doubt to allow additional time for the nets to fish for sockeye. No matter how you look at the data, there is no justifiable scientific support for such a decision that if it were to be made, would be made for one reason and one reason only, to support commercial interests to the continued detriment of king salmon. Most that know the fishery well would argue that the low end of the OEG, 15,000 fish, is already way too low to support a healthy run, self-sustaining run and our target should be the upper end of the goal at 30,000 fish, at a minimum.
P1100453.JPG

Proposal number 83, authored by my good friend, mentor, and a man that knows the Kenai kings and fisheries management better than most, Francis Estalilla, proposes that ADFG implement a more conservative approach to the late-run king and sockeye fishery as described above. In short, when the pre-season forecast is at or below the OEG, the fisheries would start in a conservative manner and then be liberalized as (if) acceptable numbers of fish show up. It’s more complicated than that, but that is the gist. The “kill them first and hope more show up” strategy is not working, and the kings are running out of time.


So, here is my ask for anyone that cares about the Kenai River kings and wants to help save them from what seems like inevitable extinction. Public comments are due by Feb 8, 2024.


1. Go to the ADFG Board of Fish web site and submit comments for the upcoming meeting. (https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.c...meetinginfo&date=02-23-2024&meeting=anchorage)

2. In these comments, tell ADFG that LOWERING the current OEG for late-run king salmon in order to allow/justify commercial fishing and netting in the inlet is entirely unacceptable and should not be considered.

3. Voice support for proposal 83 that proposes a conservative start to the fisheries and then loosening restrictions when/if the kings show up in acceptable numbers.


For those interested in additional background and more education on these subjects, I would highly recommend the following articles in addition to other resources put out by ADFG linked below.


For those that made it this far, and especially those that take a few minutes to provide a comment to help save the kings, thank you very much.
 

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Wheels

WKR
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
1,258
Location
Missouri
I fished the Kenai one time, actually it would be considered snagging to me. It was unbelievable the amount of pressure those fish get. King season was closed due to low numbers(2014 I think). We flew out of Soldatna to do a fly in and the pilot told us that 98% of the inlet was netted, leaving only 2% for the fish to get up the river.
I’d never witnessed the netting by locals until then and the 30’ high pile of carcasses at the inlet. I realize that’s their yearly take, but hard for me to understand.
 

OXN939

WKR
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
1,866
Location
VA
Apologies in advance for the long post.

If you want to fast forward to the links at the end, here is the short version, I am hoping to drum up some public comments advocating for stronger conservation efforts for the imperiled king salmon runs on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is holding public meetings in late Feb and taking comments on proposed management actions through Feb 8, 2023.

Here is the long version.


Kenai River Kings – An Endangered Species Needs Our Help

The Kenai River is world famous for both the quantity and quality of its king salmon. Home to the current world-record sport-caught king (97lbs 4 ounces) and 6 of the other top 10 king salmon ever landed, the Kenai, leading up to 2009, averaged 53,000 king salmon returning to the river each year as part of the “late run.” In 2004, 91,000 kings swam into the Kenai River.


Fast forward to the current day. Kenai kings are in trouble with runs the last three years averaging 11.5k-14k fish, the lowest returns on record. Not only are the run sizes as a whole greatly diminished, the runs now consist of fish that are both younger and smaller than has historically been the case. The 7-year-old giants are all but extinct. I have had the chance to lay hands on a few of these magnificent beasts over the years and I can honestly say it is a life changing experience. Sadly, this same opportunity for future anglers may never exist.

Much more could be said on both the history and current state of the Kenai kings, but I don’t want to bury the lede here. We are at a very critical juncture for management of the Kenai River kings, one that will play a part in whether or not these special fish continue to exist.


In 2023 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) designated the Kenai River late-run kings a “stock of management concern.” This designation comes with the requirement to put together a management/action plan to help address the causes of decline and, hopefully, help rebuild the run. That recently published plan is below.


The ADFG Board of Fish (BOF) is holding their annual Upper Cook Inlet fisheries meeting February 23-March 6, 2023. The primary purpose of this meeting is to discuss and evaluate proposals for changes in current regulations and management practices, to include the Kenai River and its late-run king salmon.


Another important bit of background. Commercial fishing and personal use set-net fishing for Kenai River sockeye salmon, which overlap with the king salmon runs on the Kenai, and sport fishing for kings in the river are married in the Kenai River management plan. That is, when one user group is restricted from fishing, so is the other. The nets in the inlet and on the beach kill a very significant number of king salmon when they are allowed to fish. As such, when the numbers of kings in the river are projected to be below the “optimal escapement goal” or “OEG,” both the sport fisherman and nets are restricted in a stepped-down manner and if things look bad enough, fishing in the river is shut down entirely and the nets aren’t allowed to fish in the most critical areas.


The way ADFG has typically managed this fishery is that they start the season with a very liberal approach, typically allowing both in-river harvest of kings by the sport fisherman and the sockeye nets to fish in the inlet and off the beach. The way this has played out the last few years is that by the time they realize the king run is tanking and start implementing restrictions, it is already too late, and a bunch of kings have already died while the run falls well short of the low end of the OEG.


A much better approach would be to start the fishing and netting very conservatively, and then as (if?) the king run materializes in acceptable numbers, allow additional harvest, fishing, and netting opportunities.



Commercial fishing and personal use set-netting are huge industries in Alaska and are both sewn into the fabric of the state and many that live here. Many people’s livelihoods and ways of life depend on these practices, and so when ADFG shuts these fisheries down, it negatively impacts a large group of people. These user groups also wield a tremendous amount of political power and influence. As such, ADFG is under a massive amount of pressure to keep the commercial and set-net sockeye fisheries open even in times where it is painfully obvious that the negative impacts to the kings will be unacceptable.


Back to the BOF meeting. At the meeting in February, the BOF will consider a long list of proposed changes to the current regulations governing Kenai kings, among many others.


The current OEG set by ADFG for the late-run Kenai kings is 15,000-30,000 fish. There are currently eight proposals that are lobbying for the OEG TO BE REDUCED, no doubt to allow additional time for the nets to fish for sockeye. No matter how you look at the data, there is no justifiable scientific support for such a decision that if it were to be made, would be made for one reason and one reason only, to support commercial interests to the continued detriment of king salmon. Most that know the fishery well would argue that the low end of the OEG, 15,000 fish, is already way too low to support a healthy run, self-sustaining run and our target should be the upper end of the goal at 30,000 fish, at a minimum.

Proposal number 83, authored by my good friend, mentor, and a man that knows the Kenai kings and fisheries management better than most, Francis Estalilla, proposes that ADFG implement a more conservative approach to the late-run king and sockeye fishery as described above. In short, when the pre-season forecast is at or below the OEG, the fisheries would start in a conservative manner and then be liberalized as (if) acceptable numbers of fish show up. It’s more complicated than that, but that is the gist. The “kill them first and hope more show up” strategy is not working, and the kings are running out of time.


So, here is my ask for anyone that cares about the Kenai River kings and wants to help save them from what seems like inevitable extinction. Public comments are due by Feb 8, 2023.


1. Go to the ADFG Board of Fish web site and submit comments for the upcoming meeting. (https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.c...meetinginfo&date=02-23-2024&meeting=anchorage)

2. In these comments, tell ADFG that LOWERING the current OEG for late-run king salmon in order to allow/justify commercial fishing and netting in the inlet is entirely unacceptable and should not be considered.

3. Voice support for proposal 83 that proposes a conservative start to the fisheries and then loosening restrictions when/if the kings show up in acceptable numbers.


For those interested in additional background and more education on these subjects, I would highly recommend the following articles in addition to other resources put out by ADFG linked below.


For those that made it this far, and especially those that take a few minutes to provide a comment to help save the kings, thank you very much.

Submitted. One question for those who know more about this than me. We could do everything to protect Kings once they get into the river, but none of that matters if the trawlers keep killing thousands of them a year as bycatch in the ocean... correct?
 

Flyjunky

WKR
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
1,430
Submitted. One question for those who know more about this than me. We could do everything to protect Kings once they get into the river, but none of that matters if the trawlers keep killing thousands of them a year as bycatch in the ocean... correct?
Correct
 

AZ8

WKR
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
559
Location
Northern Arizona
“Alaska Department of Fish and Game is holding public meetings in late Feb and taking comments on proposed management actions through Feb 8, 2023.”

“Public comments are due by Feb 8, 2023.”

Better check your calendar.
 
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OP
W

WalterH

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
152
Submitted. One question for those who know more about this than me. We could do everything to protect Kings once they get into the river, but none of that matters if the trawlers keep killing thousands of them a year as bycatch in the ocean... correct?

The trawl industry is a massive problem for kings, halibut, orcas, and most anything that winds up in their path.

How many Kenai kings die in the trawl fishery is not well understood or documented as far as I know. Seeing as how their rearing grounds, the Bering sea, and the trawl fleet intersect, I am sure it is significant.

That having been said, I wouldn't say trying to make sure the minimum number of kings required to sustain the run make it into the river is a lost cause. I'd say it is a very worthy one as every 60lb egg wagon that makes it into the river stands to drop tens of thousands of eggs. Each and every one of the large females that make it to the river plays a very significant part in furthering the population.

Though we may not solve the trawl problem over night, I at least want to take what little action I can to try and influence something for the positive, if even larger problems still loom. The river managed to kick out healthy runs o kings in generation gone by right alongside the trawl fleet, and I think the hope should still exist that it could happen again.
 

Kyle C

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 28, 2017
Messages
245
Location
Puyallup WA
Sure do miss fishing for those kings. Started going out to the Yetna, and even that river is taking a bad turn with a not so sure future. On top of many things it's sickening to watch what the trawler fleet does. Got this one back in 2019, and I'll probably never see a king this big again in my life.
IMG955169.jpg
 
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WalterH

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
152
They are unfortunately all but gone. Hasn’t been a legit 80lb fish landed in a few years now. They are such magnificent beasts. Far more animal than fish when you have your hands on them. Swimming dinosaurs.
 

Flyjunky

WKR
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
1,430
Those trawlers intercept other chinook besides kenai fish as well.

Kind of like everything else in the world these days, $$$ talks. Too bad they don’t care they are slitting the throats of the future generations of fisherman, both sport and commercial.

It is a multi-factor problem though from poor PDO the last several years, flooding the ocean with sockeye, over harvest, etc.
 
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WalterH

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
152
Those trawlers intercept other chinook besides kenai fish as well.

Most of the saltwater fisheries in AK, including many of the trawl fleets, primarily harvest/kill WA/OR and Canada kings. The PNW kings tend to prefer the near coastal waters from Oregon north to AK whereas AK kings tend to spend their time farther north in the Bering until it’s time to come home.

How the L48 states that, in some cases can’t even fish for the kings that are killed by the thousands up here, haven’t screamed bloody murder I don’t know.
 

Flyjunky

WKR
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
1,430
Most of the saltwater fisheries in AK, including many of the trawl fleets, primarily harvest/kill WA/OR and Canada kings. The PNW kings tend to prefer the near coastal waters from Oregon north to AK whereas AK kings tend to spend their time farther north in the Bering until it’s time to come home.

How the L48 states that, in some cases can’t even fish for the kings that are killed by the thousands up here, haven’t screamed bloody murder I don’t know.
Exactly what I was getting at. I’ve fished the Columbia and tribs since I was a young boy. I hope Washington, Oregon, and BC can get together and put some pressure on Alaska. I know it’s a pipe dream but we can only hope.
 

Flyjunky

WKR
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
1,430
Commercial ocean fishing is what needs the attention. 8.1 billion people .. ..
It's more than just commercial though. Help is needed from the ocean to the spawning grounds and a one size all plan doesn't work as each basin has it's own particular set of challenges. It can be anything from bad hatchery practices, lack of large woody debris, straightening of rivers, poor spawning habitat, poor logging practices, commercial harvest, poor recruitment, invasive species, lack of estuary rearing habitat, dams, overharvest, poor season setting (basing seasons on projections that are often wrong), lack of life history diversity, changing of run timing, etc, etc, etc.. It's the old story of a thousand cuts.

The one constant is humans, there are simply too many of us. We've changed many of the things these fish need to survive in abundance and unfortunately I don't think we have the desire to do what really needs to be done. We changed too many things and going backwards just isn't in the cards.
 
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