Tuesday April 28, 2026
KTUU —
Yukon River Chinook salmon are headed for another dismal year, according to preliminary estimates predicting the 2026 run will remain near historic lows ahead of April’s official forecast.
Fisheries managers estimate approximately 25,000 Canadian-origin Chinook will return this year, according to Zachary Liller, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim region research coordinator.
That would mirror the poor runs of 2024 and 2025—a devastating decline from historical averages exceeding 100,000 fish annually.
The Joint Technical Committee—made up of Alaskan and Canadian researchers and management biologists—will present its official 2026 forecast to the Yukon River Panel at its April spring meeting.
But preliminary estimates already suggest 2026 will mark the third consecutive year of catastrophic returns that have kept one of the world’s largest salmon fisheries closed to most fishing since 2024.
“In the last five years, that average has been closer to 23,000, 24,000 fish,” Liller said. “We’re definitely seeing record low runs and projecting to continue to see low runs coming in the next season.”
The population collapse has triggered unprecedented management action. In April 2024, Alaska and Canada signed a seven-year agreement suspending all directed Chinook salmon commercial fishing in the mainstem Yukon River and Canadian tributaries through 2030—one full lifecycle for the species, according to the agreement.