The first salmon of the season are expected to swim into Norton Sound in the next few weeks, and on Friday, May 29, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its schedule and regulations for subsistence fishing.
The regulations are similar to the past few years, including plans to give king salmon stocks room to recover.
Kevin Clark is ADF&G’s area manager for Norton Sound and Port Clarence. He said the department is forecasting generally low returns.
“We're not anticipating having large runs of salmon for any of the five species,” Clark said. “We are expecting pink salmon, because it is an even year, to be more abundant than they are in odd years.
The key date is June 15. That’s when the fishing schedule starts for the Nome subdistrict, and a closure for subsistence salmon fishing in the Unalakleet and Shaktoolik subdistricts takes effect.
Nome Subdistrict 1
In Nome Subdistrict 1, marine waters will open seven days a week to subsistence gillnets east of Cape Nome. West of Cape Nome, both fresh and marine waters will be open to gillnets from 6 p.m. Wednesdays to 6 p.m. Mondays. Clark said that the schedule may change if there are low chum salmon returns.
“We may have to restrict the schedule to a three-day-a-week schedule, potentially,” Clark said. “But we'll have to see what the escapement numbers are looking like in the Eldorado, the Nome, and the Snake River before we do that.”
ADF&G expects the chum run to be below the recent five‑year average across Norton Sound, according to the department’s 2026 Run Outlook published on its website.
Beach seines, dip nets, and cast nets are allowed for salmon in all Nome Subdistrict 1 subsistence areas when gillnet fishing is open.
Shaktoolik Subdistrict 5, Unalakleet Subdistrict 6
In the Shaktoolik and Unalakleet rivers, subdistricts 5 and 6, a restriction to subsistence fishing in all waters begins June 15. This is in line with the past several years of closures under the King Salmon Management Plan, aimed at reducing incidental king salmon harvest and boosting the stock.
Norton Sound king returns have followed the same downward trend as the rest of the Western Alaska stock, and king salmon numbers are expected to be weak across the Norton Sound district, similar to last year's run.
Clark said the largest king salmon run in the region is in Shaktoolik Subdistrict 5 and Unalakleet Subdistrict 6, and that is where they are focusing their conservation efforts. The restriction includes a closure on gillnetting in marine waters.
“All gillnets will catch king salmon,” Clark said. “In subdistricts 5 and 6, because the kings will mill in marine waters, you don't really know where they're going, whether they're going to Shaktoolik or they're going to Unalakleet, they do mill there, and they mix there, so we do not want to harvest king salmon.”
Clark said he hopes to open beach seining operations for chum and pink salmon in the first few weeks of July.
“Those incidental kings that are caught can be released and get up the river to spawn,” Clark said, adding that the opening would give subsistence fishermen a harvest opportunity. “So that, you know, people can still fill their fish racks but save king salmon.”
He said beach seining also has some level of incidental mortality, but that impact can be reduced.
In the Unalakleet River, some exceptions to the complete closure are in place for targeting non-salmon species. Fishing with cast nets and dipnets is permitted below the North River drainage, and 4-inch-or-smaller set gillnets may still be used upstream of the North River confluence.
New Board of Fish regulation for beach seines
A new regulation on the types of nets that can be used for beach seining, including limits on mesh size and net length, was put into effect at the last November at the Board of Fisheries meeting. It is intended to help reduce the incidental mortality of protected salmon species, like king salmon.
Clark said the department is trying to phase out large‑mesh gillnet‑style gear being used as beach seines, which can harm fish and make it less likely they will survive when released.
“Depending on where you were, you could use basically any net as a beach seine, because beach seining is a technique more than a gear type,” Clark said. “So by putting that into regulation, we want to curtail that to some extent, to where you know that the fish that we actually need to have released are released in good shape so they have a much higher likelihood of surviving and spawning.”
Port Clarence District
In the Port Clarence District, fishing is expected to remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
On the Pilgrim River, there is an initial household limit of 25 sockeyes and three kings. Clark said that the limit could be increased mid‑season if it appears they will meet escapement goals. He said he expects sockeye escapement goals to be met in the Pilgrim River and Glacier Lake, as in the past few years.
“Once we get some numbers from the Pilgrim River weir, then at that point we'll reassess and decide whether or not we're going to waive and or increase the household limit from the 25,” Clark said. “But that probably won't happen until around the first of July, when we'll make that decision.”
Permits for subsistence fishing
Clark said he is not expecting subsistence restrictions this season in Norton Sound's Golovin Subdistrict 2, Elim Subdistrict 3, and Norton Bay Subdistrict 4, or in the Port Clarence District's Teller and Brevig Mission areas.
Subsistence permits are required starting June 15 in Norton Sound's Nome Subdistrict 1, Golovin Subdistrict 2, Elim Subdistrict 3, and the Port Clarence District. A separate permit is required for the Pilgrim River. Permits are not required for Norton Sound's Norton Bay Subdistrict 4, Shaktoolik Subdistrict 5, and Unalakleet Subdistrict 6.
Clark said subsistence reports with how many fish were caught are due to ADF&G by October 6.
