2025 Public Hearing to Discuss Subsistence Fishery Temporary Special Actions for the Yukon Area

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal in-season manager is offering a public hearing to discuss proposed management actions to protect Yukon drainage salmon, which include temporary special actions (effective for longer than 60 days). Please call in to get information and share your comments or concerns at our upcoming public hearing. See below for a summary of planned management actions.

PUBLIC HEARING BY TELECONFERENCE:
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (or until conclusion of public comments).
833-436-1163 Passcode: 797-043-615#
You can also join via a Microsoft Teams link by clicking here:
Join the meeting now

2025 Salmon Outlooks:
• Chinook salmon run is forecasted to be about 72,000 fish drainage wide. The Canadian-origin component of the run is projected to be about 30,000 fish, which is well below the Canadian Border objective of 71,000 fish.
• The summer chum forecast is for 1.1 million fish which would be within the drainage-wide escapement goal of 500,000 to 1.2 million fish. However, the parent years contributing to the returning 4- and 5-year-old fish experienced heat stress, in-river mortality, and very poor escapements, so a cautious management approach will be required early in the run.
• The fall chum salmon forecast is for a run size of 218,000 fish. This is below the drainage-wide escapement goal of 300,000–600,000 chum salmon. The Canadian-component of the run has been weaker than average recently and the projected run size is 22,000 fall chum salmon, which is well below the Canadian Border objective of 70,000–104,000.
• The forecast for coho salmon is for a below average run. Harvest restrictions are likely necessary for this species.

Proposed Federal Management Actions for 2025:
• The Federal manager will close all salmon fishing to all users beginning June 1 in the Coastal District and lower river, and these closures will move upriver based on salmon run timing and assessment data. During these closures, salmon gillnets (larger than 4-inches) will not be allowed.
• If a harvestable surplus of summer chum salmon becomes available, opportunities to subsistence fish for summer chum salmon with selective gear may be allowed (hook and line, dip nets, beach seines, and manned fish wheels). These opportunities would be limited to federally qualified subsistence users in Federal public waters.
• The fall season will likely begin closed for fall chum and coho salmon beginning July 16 in the Coastal District and District 1, and these closures will move upriver based on run timing. Subsistence fishing restrictions may be in place until October 1 in the lower Yukon drainage and this date will be transitioned upriver to fishing districts based on salmon migration timing. Important fall chum spawning tributaries may remain closed through December (Koyukuk, Teedriinjik, Porcupine rivers, and District 6 tributaries of Tanana River).
      o Opportunity to fish for fall chum salmon with large gillnets may be allowed in Alaskan tributaries depending on fall chum and coho salmon run strengths and whether drainage-wide escapement goals have been met. If the coho run is large enough to support harvest but the fall chum run is weak, retention of coho may be allowed from selective gears. These opportunities would be limited to federally qualified subsistence users in Federal public waters.
• Fishing for nonsalmon will be allowed with 4-inch gillnets limited to 60 feet in length and operated as set nets only. There is not a conservation concern for nonsalmon species, so fishing opportunities for nonsalmon will not be limited to federally-qualified subsistence users.
      o In select areas without migrating salmon, we may consider allowing nonsalmon fishing with 6-inch and smaller mesh gillnets during fall season to improve the efficiency of catching the large whitefish species. However, the quantity of fish in these areas varies by district and nonsalmon fishing opportunity with large-mesh nets will not be equal everywhere.
      o To reduce the number of Chinook, fall chum, and coho salmon that are incidentally caught or killed (and drop out) we may consider restricting the use of 4-inch or smaller mesh gillnets for 2- to 3-week periods during high salmon passage in each area. We may also consider putting 4-inch and smaller mesh gillnets on a schedule to provide times throughout the season when those gillnets are out of the river as salmon migrate through.

Background:
Office of Subsistence Management (OSM) has received a fisheries special action request from the Yukon River Intertribal Fish Commission that requests the Federal Subsistence Board uphold the conservation and priority consumptive uses provisions under Title III and VIII of ANILCA and to uphold the Yukon River Salmon Agreement (annex of the Pacific Salmon Treaty) by re-assuming management of Yukon River Chinook, summer chum, fall chum, and coho salmon throughout the 2025 salmon season. The proponent requests that Federal waters close to all but federally qualified subsistence users, and that fishing schedules, openings, closures, and fishing methods be determined and justified under Title VIII by the Federal fisheries manager.
 

OSM has reviewed the special action request, and all the specific requested actions fall within the delegated authority that the Federal Subsistence Board has entrusted to the Federal in-season manager. Therefore, OSM has assigned this special action request to the Federal in-season manager for the Yukon drainage, Holly Carroll. The Yukon management team feels this management strategy addresses the special action request, but we are holding this public hearing to seek additional feedback. If any Tribal Governments or ANCSA corporations wish to have Government-to-Government consultations on this topic, please contact us.
 

For more information:
Please contact Shane_Ransbury@fws.gov or 907-456-0550 with any questions.

News Release