Kotzebue Sound commercial fishery

After the fishery’s record low return last year, state biologists expect this year’s season to be about average for the country’s northernmost commercial fishery.This year state biologists expect the harvest to fall within the range of 50,000 to 150,000 fish.

Clark said there's no “smoking gun” to point to, but late season ice could have contributed to the dismal runs and that most of Western Alaska experienced later than normal salmon runs this year. Clark compared Kotzebue Sound’s chum to stocks on the Yukon River that have been experiencing a severe decline since a major crash in 2020, but can’t definitively say they are related.

The commercial fishing season for chum salmon in Kotzebue Sound opened on Monday, with one less seafood buyer this year. Despite strong numbers last summer, Seattle-based E&E Foods has quietly closed operations in Kotzebue Sound.