Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The state is limiting the harvest of Copper River king salmon. Chitina dip netters will no longer be able to keep kings as of Monday. State management biologist Mark Sommerville says the Department of Fish and Game is following up earlier measures taken to decrease the commercial Chinook catch downstream, with upriver harvest reductions.
The annual limit for Copper River system sport fishers is being ratcheted back from four kings to two. Sommerville says the measures reflect a weakening run, as indicated by a declining count at downriver fish sampling wheels operated by the Native village of Eyak.
Download Audio (MP3)
