June 6, 2024 — Local commercial drift gillnet fisheries open later this month, and an outlook for the fishery published by the State Department of Fish and Game on Monday says around 5.7 million sockeye are expected to return to Upper Cook Inlet, with 3.7 million of those fish available for harvest across all user groups.
The document says that drift gillnet vessels cannot participate in both state fisheries and federal fisheries on the same day, specifically citing the Cook Inlet exclusive economic zone, which is newly under federal management this year. This year, commercial fisheries are expected to open June 20 by regulation or June 19 by emergency order.
Drift gillnet openings will be Monday and Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the recently passed Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Stock of Concern Management Plan closes all drift gillnet fishing within 2 miles of the Kenai Peninsula shoreline.