 The Kenai River runs 62 miles from Kenai Lake into Cook Inlet and provides some of the greatest fishing in the world. It is now the only river in the world that routinely produces Chinook/King Salmon that weigh more than 50 pounds, year in and year out. Additionally the Kenai River is unique in having two runs of Chinook/King Salmon (May-June and July), two runs of Coho/Silver Salmon (August and September) and two runs of Sockeye/Red Salmon (June and July). The Kenai River also produces excellent fishing for Rainbow Trout and good fishing for Dolly Varden. In even numbered years the Kenai River has a large run of Humpy/Pink Salmon. Most rivers in Alaska are fortunate to produce one or two runs of salmon.
It is only in the last 10 to 15 years that sport fishermen have come to the Kenai River in large numbers. In the past, the major industries on the Kenai Peninsula were commercial fishing and oil after it was discovered in Cook Inlet. Now both of these industries are less significant to the economy. Tourism and sport fishing are the mainstay of the economy.
Increased sport fishing led to potential habitat damage and increased competition between the commercial fisherman and the sport fisherman for the King and Sockeye Salmon. Kenai River Sportfishing Association was established to educate fisherman on how to fish responsibly and to advocate for an equitable allocation of the salmon. The Kenai River Classic Fishing Tournament is held each year to raise funds to accomplish these goals. Many U.S. Senators and leading corporate executives come the first week in July to fish the Kenai River. In 2002, U.S. Senator Kit Bond of Missouri was our Salmon Haus guest.
Prior to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Sockeye Salmon from our area were the most sought after in the world. The Cook Inlet Sockeye Salmon have greater oil content and are larger than those coming from Bristol Bay and therefore command a higher price per pound. During the two years following the oil spill no salmon were commercially taken from these waters due to the possibility of pollution. As a result the commercial farmed salmon industry got a strong foothold in the world market. Now, Chile, Canada and Norway, who produce "Atlantic Salmon" have over a 60% share of the market. Although they do not taste the same, consumers can receive fresh fish of equal size at any time of the year. (Interestingly, farmed fish do not have the Omega 3 oils which reduce cholesterol. Farmed fish are fed grains instead of the marine life Pacific/Alaska wild salmon eat. Because of this, they are now grinding wild salmon parts and are adding them to the meal that farmed fish eat.) Alaskan Senators Stevens and Murkowski have sponsored legislation requiring the origin of salmon to be prominently displayed on all supermarket labels.
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Prices for Alaskan Sockeye Salmon some 15 years ago were well over $2.50 per pound and now have fallen under a dollar per pound thus pushing the commercial fishermen to catch more and more fish to maintain the same income. Commercial fishermen banned fish farming in Alaska years ago.
The Alaska Board of Fisheries and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are responsible for the allocation of salmon catches between commercial fishermen and sport fishermen and managing the resource. Prior to 1999, the Cook Inlet Management Plan gave commercial fishermen "primary" right to Sockeye Salmon and therefore all salmon, coming into Cook Inlet and heading for the Kenai River and the Kasilof River 13 miles south. It was not unusual for ADF&G to issue emergency orders giving commercial fishermen additional time to fish so that the set nets along the beaches and the drift fleet in the Inlet would be out for almost two weeks straight. The result: there were not catchable quantities of Chinook and Sockeye in the river. In 1999, the Board of Fisheries made changes in the management plan in an effort to level the playing field. Commercial fishing and sport fishing were each given rights to the salmon and a sliding scale of minimum escapement into the Kenai River was established.
In 2002, the Board created a management plan to protect the weakest stocks of salmon in Cook Inlet. The result is to limit commercial fishing which indiscriminately kills the "by-catch" and which should provide abundance of salmon for Sportsfishermen. We believe the fish won.
One of the major issues is that commercial fishermen over the years, primarily those using set nets, take more Chinook/King Salmon as a "by catch" than all sport fishermen put together. While these two species of salmon run at the same time, the commercial fishermen have made no effort to devise ways to take the Sockeye and let the Chinook alone. In a similar manner the Coho start arriving as the Sockeye are finishing. In an effort to increase the dollars in their pockets the commercial fishermen continue to fish even when there are few Sockeye to be caught. They catch Coho in sufficient numbers that the runs in many northern Cook Inlet streams above Anchorage are almost extinct and even the Kenai River first run which at one time boasted world class Coho Salmon fishing saw poor fishing for a few years. Sockeye salmon runs below 2M fish limited commercial openings in 2000 and 2001 permitting Chinook and Coho to enter the Kenai and upper Inlet streams providing a greatly enhanced sport fishery for those species. In 2001, the Fisheries Board created a Coho Management Plan for Cook Inlet. That and last year's changes will go a long way to provide significant opportunities for sportfishing. By its nature, sportfishing is selective in its harvest and does not harm weak species.
Other issues include the sonar counters for Chinook and Sockeye Salmon. The equipment and technology is old and needs to be upgraded to provide accurate fish counts so more accurate management decisions can be made regarding escapement. In the past the data has been poor at best. In 2002 Kenai River Sportfishing Association sponsored a test of the Didson Dual Frequency Identification Sonar on the Kenai River. It looks most promising.
We at Salmon Haus are committed to assuring an abundant escapement, conserving this great resource and protecting the habitat while finding equitable solutions to the allocation of our salmon resource on the Kenai River.
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