Commercial fishing openers are only available to individuals registered as catcher/sellers. On the Kuskokwim, the only one registered is Fran Reich.

Almost 1.1 thousand tons of salmon have been harvested in the district since the beginning of the fishing season. This indicator is almost twice worse than the most unsuccessful years. The exception was the region of the Khatyrka River and the Meynypilgynskaya lake-river system, Chukotka news agency reports.

The sockeye salmon are coming back smaller for the Newhalen River and Iliamna Lake, plus not a thick as they once did when I was younger.

Dead beluga whales and walruses have been found washed ashore in the estuary near the capital of Chukotka, with the cause of death currently unknown.

The sale of fishing permits has been suspended for two sites where water temperatures have risen to critically high levels, especially for salmon.

Chinook (king) and chum are the major salmon species on the Yukon and Kuskokwim. They’ve been at historically low numbers in both rivers for years. The coho (silver) returns have also dropped.This will be the fourth year subsistence fishing has been closed or severely restricted on both rivers. The region is bracing for another dismal subsistence harvest.

It’s only the second time in history that the ocean salmon fishery has been closed in California, and the decision reflects a major decline in fish populations after the state’s driest three-year period on record.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced preseason fishing limits and closures Thursday as chinook numbers continue to decline. The closure also triggers commercial setnet shutdowns.