While trollers in Southeast Alaska catch king salmon almost year-round, mid-May marks the official start of Alaska’s salmon season as sockeyes and kings run to the Copper River near Cordova.
The Copper River District commercial salmon drift gillnet fishery will open at 7:00 am on Friday, May 22, for a 12-hour fishing period. The standard commercial fishing schedule has two evenly spaced fishing periods per week, with the first period typically starting on Mondays. Fishing effort, harvest, passage, and escapement trends will inform managers’ decisions throughout the fishery, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (ADF&G)
The 2026 Copper River sockeye salmon commercial harvest forecast is 728,000 fish, which is on par with the 10-year average of 733,000 fish.
The Chinook salmon total run forecast of 33,000 fish is 27 percent below the 10-year average of 45,000 fish and no harvest predictions are provided.
ADF&G said that depending on the relative strength of the sockeye and Chinook salmon runs, more management measures may be necessary to provide additional fishing opportunity on sockeye salmon while minimizing Chinook salmon harvest.
Copper River 2025 recap
In 2025, the May 22 opener at Copper River for sockeye salmon produced a harvest of 840,000 fish, which was 2 percent greater than the 10-year average harvest of 824,000 fish.
The fishery was open for 834 hours compared to a 10-year average of 622 hours despite short duration fishing periods early in the season. Sockeye salmon average weight of 5.3 pounds was 0.5 pounds smaller than the 20-year average of 5.8 pounds.
About 360 gillnet fishermen participated in the opener, earning an average ex-vessel price of $6.00 per pound for sockeyes and $10 for Chinook salmon.
Typically, the start of Alaska’s salmon season draws interest from far and wide, with images of huge kings from the Copper River being carried by Alaska Airlines pilots to eager chefs in the Lower 48 and excited write-ups in Alaska media and beyond about the season’s first fresh salmon.
But in 2025, no mainstream Alaska media even mentioned the start of the 2025 salmon season, nor did Alaska Airlines participate.
