MAT-SU — Starting today at 6 a.m., the Parks Highway streams and Little Susitna River are closed to king salmon fishing for the remainder of the season.

The affected waterways along the Parks Highway are the Kashwitna River and Willow, Little Willow, Greys, Caswell, Sheep, Montana, Goose, Sunshine, Birch, Trapper and Rabideux creeks. Additionally, all flowing waters of the Susitna River are closed upstream from its confluence with the Deshka River to its confluence with the Talkeetna River.

The Little Susitna River has been closed from its mouth upstream to the Parks Highway. Alaska Department of Fish and Game was worried the closure of the Parks Highway streams would put additional pressure on that river, itself experiencing dismal returns. All waters that are normally closed to king salmon fishing are unaffected. Anglers may fish for other species in those areas.

Asked when the last time the rivers were closed like this, chief area management biologist Dave Rutz said it is hard to say.

“Until 2002, those rivers were only open for two weekends, not three,” Rutz said. “There hasn’t been much restriction on the Parks streams or the Little Su for king salmon.”

The catch counts and aerial surveys indicate very low numbers in the Parks streams and marginal on the Little Susitna. Closing the Parks streams would put additional pressure on the Little Susitna and make escapement goals unlikely, Rutz said.

Even with the closures, Rutz is worried they will not make their goals, especially on Willow and Sheep creeks. This would be the third year in a row goals were not met on the Willow. Sheep Creek missed the goal in 2007 and a count could not be taken in 2008.

“If you miss (the goals) for three or four years in a row, they might be declared as a stock of management concern,” Rutz said. “At the next board meeting, there probably will be quite a few proposals to change things.”

However, Rutz hopes this is just a slight downturn, normal in the cyclical nature of salmon returns. He reminds anglers the low returns in the 1990s brought some of the highest returns later in the decade and early in the 2000s.

As for the Public Service Employees Association Mat-Su King Salmon Derby, the closures only affect 30 percent of the fishable waterways, said organizer Terrence Shanigan. Most of the open waterways are now only accessible by boat, but Shanigan directs road anglers to the Eklutna Tailrace, Talkeetna drainage or Honolulu Creek.

Pat Donelson of iFishAlaska said it has completely shut him down for three weeks until the silver salmon start running. All the trips and charters he had scheduled have been canceled and refunded.

Linda Haynes of Rainbow River Charters said they only had a few more trips planned for kings and the guests have been very flexible. Their boats will now head out in search of rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and the first few silvers.

“It’s not affecting us at all,” said Terri Studnicka of Fisherman’s Choice Charters. “Last year we moved to the Talkeetna as soon as the Deshka closed. This year, we knew something was going to happen, so we went north early. Now that the Little Su is closed, who knows how busy it will be up there.”

Per the local area management plan, the Northern Cook Inlet king salmon commercial fishery shuts down when the Deshka is closed to sport fishing, Rutz said. He said it’s hard to say what sort of impact the commercial fishery has on returns, but their recent average harvest is about 3,000 kings out of the Northern Cook Inlet Area. That’s compared to the average 6,500 kings taken out of the Deshka by sport fishing.

Rutz is more optimistic about the silver salmon returns this year. The Knik Arm streams were fantastic last year, he said, and he hopes the returns are similar this year. Last year, the run on the Susitna Drainage was only mediocre, and this year will probably follow suit.

However, he said, “even though we had low returns last year, there’s not as many people fishing silvers. So you can still have great days and catch limits.”