Unusual Weather Causes Lull In Copper River Sockeye Run

Alaska Public Media | By Ellen Lockyer

Published May 30, 2013 at 9:26 PM AKDT

Unusual weather in Alaska’s Interior is causing a slowdown of an expected sockeye run on the Copper River. On Wednesday, state Fish and Game fisheries managers issued a notice delaying the start of the Copper River personal use, or dipnet, fishery in the Chitina subdistrict. Mark Sommerville is the area management biologist in Glennallen. He says an unusually late breakup on the Copper and recent soaring temperatures are combining to create conditions that fish don’t like.

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Ellen Lockyer

APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone. Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen

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