The Kenai River kings seem to have met their escapement goal after all, but it was still the lowest return on record.

Through Aug. 15, 17,028 kings were enumerated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's sonar, slightly more than the bottom of the sustainable escapement goal range for Kenai River kings.

That's still far fewer fish than in recent years, which have seen runs of 24,000 and 27,000 fish.

The Kenai king escapement goal is 15,000 to 30,000 fish.

The preliminary estimate for in-river mortality is 1,619 fish from sport caught and catch-and-release mortality, making the preliminary escapement estimate 15,409 fish.

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