This year, the king salmon run in the Susitna Valley came about a week earlier than in 2015.
According to counts from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the first kings were observed on May 14th. Last year, the first kings didn’t show up until a week later on May 20th.
Thus far, the daily counts have followed a similar pattern of peaks and valleys as last year. The largest days for kings thus far occurred last Friday and Saturday, with over 1,100 kings counted on each day. Last year, the highest count of kings was on June 5th, with over 2,000 fish observed.
For most of the Susitna drainage, harvesting of kings is currently not allowed. Keeping kings is allowed in limited areas, and up-to-date regulations are available from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Regulations may relax or tighten based on the strength of the 2016 run.
The sockeye run on the Little Susitna River also started earlier than last year, and numbers thus far are significantly higher than in 2015. As of Monday, over 500 sockeye had been counted on the Little Susitna. At the same time last year, just over 100 had been observed.
