Closed: No fishing on Deshka

MAT-SU — An upcoming meeting of the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force is likely to draw more attention to struggling Mat-Su salmon returns in the wake of Thursday’s announcement that the Deshka River is being closed to king salmon fishing.

“The next one I’ve gotta believe, with the make-up on there, that there’s going to be a lot of questions about the Deshka,” Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak/Mat-Su, said Thursday.

In a press release issued Thursday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it will close the Deshka River king salmon fishery to sport fishing at 11 p.m. today. The department cited an extremely low fish count above the Deshka River weir as its reason for taking the action. The final regularly scheduled Northern District commercial king salmon fishing period of the year — which had been set for Monday — has also been shut down.

The department said the river will be closed from its mouth upstream to a marker near Chijuk Creek. Also, all waters of the Susitna River within a half-mile radius of the Deshka River confluence will be closed to sport fishing.

The move comes nearly a week after Fish and Game banned bait fishing on the river in an attempt to reduce the harvest amid dismal numbers of salmon this year.

“It’s getting time where we had to take some drastic action,” area management biologist Dave Rutz said.

By Thursday morning, only 2,009 fish had passed the weir. The river’s biological escapement goal is between 13,000 and 28,000 fish by the end of the season.

“We should be seeing about 12,000 to 15,000 fish by this point,” Rutz said.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers will be enforcing the no-fishing rule.

Rutz said that if it appears the escapement goal will be met before July 13, the sport fishery will be reopened.

Task force set to meet

That’s not likely going to be good enough for local anglers or those on the salmon task force, which is made up of five members of the Alaska State House and five from the Senate. The task force has already met twice — once in Wasilla and once in Soldotna — to take public testimony and hear Fish and Game staff reports on the status of Mat-Su salmon returns, which have declined in recent years.

While that decline has been seen mainly among sockeye salmon, Stoltze said he’d like to know what’s going on with king salmon as well. Stoltze said the king salmon sport fishing closure is warranted because of the low numbers, but he thinks there’s more to the equation than simply shutting down sport anglers.

“I think there’s going to be some very pointed questions about sharing the burden of conservation,” he said.

Other members of the task force include Sen. Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, Rep. Kyle Johansen, R-Ketchikan, Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, and Rep. Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage.

Over the past year, Mat-Su anglers and Legislators have sharply criticized both the Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska Board of Fisheries over diminished salmon returns. Mat-Su fishermen believe Cook Inlet commercial fishermen have been given too big a slice of the salmon pie and haven’t felt the burden of conservation measures that sports anglers have.

“That’s one of the top things I hear from folks,” Stoltze said.

The next task force meeting is scheduled for June 25 at 1:30 p.m. in the second floor conference room of the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. At that meeting, Cook Inlet biologists will answer questions about salmon forecasts for the remainder of the season. There will also be a review of the Susitna River Action Plan, which was put in place by the Alaska Board of Fish to further address how to increase sockeye returns to the Valley.

Cold, disappointing spring season

Rutz said there’s really no way to tell what’s causing poor salmon returns this spring, but what he does know is that it doesn’t seem to be just a Mat-Su issue.

“It seems like at least a Cook Inlet-wide phenomenon and around the state as well,” he said.

King salmon returns to the Copper River and Kodiak have also fallen well below normal this season. Biologists have speculated that a cold spring has kept fish in the ocean longer than normal. But while it’s still possible that the fish are just late, Rutz said it’s becoming less and less likely each day.

“There’s always a first with everything, I guess,” he said.

What is for sure is that anglers hoping to land a king on the Deshka will soon have to head elsewhere. Deshka Landing manager Steve Richter said fishermen and guides will likely end up downstream on the Susitna River.

“The Deshka’s not the only river around,” he said, adding that most anglers had been expecting a closure on the Deshka after Fish and Game pulled bait last week.

“Most of them are not surprised,” he said.

Richter said he doesn’t blame commercial fishermen for the poor season and, like Fish and Game, doesn’t have a good explanation for the lack of fish.

“I don’t think anybody knows,” he said.

It’s far too soon to tell what’s caused the poor return, Rutz said, although the most likely culprit is poor survival rates on the open ocean. Until further study is done, however, the only answer the department has is to cut fishing time and hope enough fish escape upstream to avoid a disastrous season.

“We have saved a bunch of fish,” Rutz said. “Hopefully it’s a good thing.”

Cook Inlet commercial fisheries biologist Jeff Fox said he believes the fish are still on the way. Over the past couple days, a large number of fish have begun entering inlet streams, and he said he expects things to improve in the coming days.

“My guess is they’ll probably come in the next eight to 10 days,” he said.

Over the next few weeks, Rutz said the department will be closely scrutinizing Mat-Su salmon returns in hope that a sudden surge changes the outlook. He said he’s hopeful the season can still be salvaged, as is Richter, who said most fishermen he knows will continue to seek fish wherever they can find them.

“There’s always hope,” he said. “Why else would we get up at 4 o’clock in the morning to go fishing?”

Frontiersman reporter Michael Rovito contributed to this story. Contact Matt Tunseth at matt.tunseth@frontiers-man.com or 352-2265.