Chinook salmon counts are very low in both the Deshka and Little Susitna Rivers. On Monday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued an emergency order ending fishing for Chinook salmon on the Little Susitna River. Retaining Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, was already ruled out for the vast majority of the Susitna drainage this March, months before the salmon run began.
There are two fish weirs in the drainage that monitor Chinook salmon. The weir on the Little Susitna has counted 342 fish as of the beginning of July. Fish and Game Area Management Biologist Sam Ivey says that the weir counting has been made more difficult this year by cold water preventing fish swimming upstream followed by localized flooding. The last time the weir count on the Little Susitna was this low was in 2018. In that year some of the run arrived late. The low end of the sustainable escapement goal for the Little Susitna is 2,100 Chinook salmon. That goal is a population range which Fish and Game biologists believe is necessary to sustain a healthy population in future years.
The counts on the Deshka River are also very low. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s counting website, Chinook numbers on the river are currently the lowest ever recorded at 3,340 fish counted as of July 2nd. The low end of the sustainable escapement goal for the Deshka is 9,000 Chinook salmon.
Monday’s emergency order closing Chinook fishing on the Little Susitna comes ten days before what would have been the end of Chinook season on the river.
