Little Susitna closed to king fishing as of Friday at 11 p.m.

MAT-SU — Alaska Department of Fish and Game sport fishery biologists have had a close watch on the Little Susitna River king salmon run. And what they’ve seen has forced the department to take serious action.

The Little Su is closed to all king salmon fishing as of 11 p.m., Friday, area management biologist Sam Ivey confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

“Since the beginning of the season we’ve been watching the harvest counts come in,” Ivey said. “It gets to the point if we don’t make a management decision it gets too late in the season to make a meaningful savings.”

Ivey said the action is an effort to help make the escapement goal for the Little Su. Last season, ADF&G closed the river to king salmon fishing July 2, and the escapement numbers still fell far below the goal. Ivey said the low end of the goal is 900, and more than 300 fish missed that last year.

The escapement goals this season are currently slightly below this time last year. When looking at a decade’s worth of numbers, Ivey said, the harvest is the lowest on record since 2001.

By closing the waters to king salmon fishing on Friday, Ivey said, ADF&G hopes the Little Su can still make its escapement goal for the season.

The closure prohibits all king salmon fishing, including catch-and-release fishing, according to the ADF&G press release, and includes all waters of the Little Su from its confluence with Cook Inlet upstream to the Parks Highway bridge. Anglers may continue to fish for species other than king salmon downstream of the Parks Highway.

Ivey said king salmon fishing on other Parks Highway fisheries has included small and sporadic catches so far. The king salmon runs on the east side of the Parks Highway typically start about this time of year, he said.

“It’s a little bit early to tell what the run strength is,” Ivey said.

The counts have been fairly stable on the Deshka River, Ivey said.

“We’re projected to make the escapement goal,” Ivey said. “We haven’t had to take any action on the Deshka to date.”