The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its preliminary summary of the 2025 Upper Cook Inlet salmon fishery season. The report found that although numbers of all salmon species besides sockeye were down, the 2025 cumulative yield of fish was 57% greater than the previous 20-year average annual exvessel exchange.
The total exvessel value — the value of the fish as it’s unloaded from the vessel — of all salmon species was $36.4 million, a 41% increase from the 20-year annual average of $23.1 million.
Lowest king salmon harvest on record
The 2025 king salmon harvest of 128 fish is the lowest on record, partially due to restricted fishing efforts because of low abundance trends. Although the number of large king salmon that returned to the Kenai River during the early run did not reach the river’s optimal escapement goal, the late run exceeded both the recovery goal and optimal escapement goal. The Anchor River and Ninilchik River also both met escapement goals. Due to a lack of funding, the Deep Creek king salmon run was not assessed.
The 2025 preseason forecast estimated 8,742 large Kenai River late-run king salmon, and the late-run king sport fishery remained closed for the entirety of the season due to the low forecast.
The Upper Subdistrict set gillnet fishery was closed at the beginning of the season, but on Aug. 4, ADF&G announced two periods on Aug. 5 and Aug. 6 for the East Side Set Net to begin operations after the Kenai River was projected to achieve its recovery goal of 14,250 late-run large king salmon.
The ESSN reported only seven king salmon on fish tickets during the two periods on Aug. 5 and 6.
Pink, chum and coho salmon numbers down
Pink salmon have two-year life cycles that result in genetically distinct odd-year and even-year populations. Harvests are even-year dominant. The 2025 UCI commercial pink salmon harvest was 51% below the average annual harvest from the most recent 20 years of odd-year harvests. The total exvessel value for the 2025 pink salmon harvest was $44,261.
The 2025 harvest of chum salmon was also down. 109,952 salmon were harvested, a 13% decrease from the 20-year annual average of 125,862 fish. Chum salmon generated $264,710, which is 0.7% of the total value of all species of salmon found in the Upper Cook Inlet.
The estimated exvessel value of coho salmon was 53% below the 20-year average, generating $339,431. The total commercial yield was 31% lower than usual. Coho salmon makes up 0.9% of the total value of all salmon species in the Upper Cook Inlet, making it slightly more valuable than chum.
Sockeye run and overall harvest both greater than forecasted
The Kenai River saw the largest end-of-season sockeye passage on record this summer, with 4,252,497 salmon passing at the river mile 19 sonar monitor. This number exceeded the inriver goal’s upper range by over 2.5 million fish.
All monitored UCI sockeye salmon escapement goals were met or exceeded. 12.1 million sockeye salmon returned to the Upper Cook Inlet, exceeding the preseason forecast of 6.9 million by 74%. Of the five species of salmon, sockeye account for 91% of the total exvessel value.
The 2025 commercial harvest was 41% greater than the recent 20-year annual average, generating $36.4 million. Overall participation in commercial fishing was down by 29%, with 622 permits making deliveries.
A total of four million salmon were harvested during the 2025 season. The recent 20-year average annual harvest is 2.9 million fish.
Find the full summary report at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareauci.salmon.
