Area Sport Fishing Reports
North Gulf Coast/Resurrection Bay
Sport Fish Management Areas
PDF of Summary, which includes tables of Escapement Goals and Escapements (2013-2022).
King salmon fishing started out slow in Ship Creek but ended well. 1,641 king salmon were collected in the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery raceway. The hatchery was able to meet the broodstock goal of 460 king salmon. An estimated 1,919 king salmon were counted in Ship Creek for viewing and natural reproduction below the hatchery.
No management actions were implemented during the 2022 sport fishery season.
King salmon fishing was fair in Whittier and good in Cordova. Both locations are terminal harvest areas. Throughout the summer more reports of king salmon getting caught towards Main Bay in the south and Glacier Island towards the north were reported. No formal surveys are conducted for king salmon in Prince William Sound.
No management actions were implemented during the 2022 sport fishery season.
Anglers reported good sockeye salmon fishing in Resurrection Bay. On June 20, 2022, over 10,089 sockeye salmon passed through the Bear Creek weir, with large numbers of sockeye salmon still entering the river. Bear Lake sockeye salmon have a sustainable escapement goal (SEG) of 700 - 8,300 fish and is managed to escape 5,152 - 12,752 sockeye salmon, which meets both the SEG and the Trail Lakes Hatchery broodstock requirements. The final escapement was approximately 12,760 sockeye salmon.
On June 24, 2022, in marine waters of Resurrection Bay north of a line from Caines Head to the north point of Thumb Cove and the freshwaters open to sockeye salmon fishing, the bag and possession limits for sockeye salmon were increased to twelve fish.
Sockeye salmon fishing in the Coghill River was reported as good this season. The final weir count on July 17, 2022, indicated 34,092 sockeye salmon had passed through the Coghill River weir. Counts were incomplete for the season as high water prohibited conducting counts through the end of the season and July 17 was the last day the crew was able to conduct counts. The sockeye salmon SEG for the Coghill River is 20,000 - 60,000 fish.
On July 2, 2022, the sockeye salmon bag and possession limits were increased to 12 fish per day and 24 in possession.
Coho salmon fishing in Ship Creek this season was reported as good. The William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery is currently collecting coho salmon for broodstock. Over 2,000 coho salmon are in the hatchery raceways and 1,062 coho salmon were counted by foot survey immediately in the creek below the hatchery on October 3, 2022.
On August 17, 2022, the coho salmon bag and possession limits were increased to six fish in Ship Creek from its mouth upstream to a cable 100 feet downstream of the Chugach Power Plant dam.
Coho salmon fishing in Resurrection Bay was hit or miss this season. Anglers fishing from a boat had good days and bad days. At the start of the coho season, king salmon were caught just as frequently as coho salmon by boat anglers. Salmon fishing near the outflow of Scheffler Creek was reported as good. The Bear Creek coho salmon stock appears to be late but is currently on track to provide adequate brood. Escapement surveys will not be conducted due to budget cuts.
On September 6, 2022 the youth fishery for coho salmon in the Seward Lagoon and Outfall stream was extended through September 30, 2022.
Coho salmon fishing has been fair to poor in Whittier but was good outside of Passage Canal. Fleming Spit appeared to have a poor return this year but also less effort. There were very few reports of coho salmon getting caught in the terminal harvest area. Coho salmon fishing in Valdez was reported by anglers as fair to good. In Valdez, coho salmon are stocked by VFDA. It has not been determined yet if broodstock goals will be met by the Valdez Fisheries Development Association (VFDA) and Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation hatcheries (PWSAC). Currently the VFDA in Valdez is continuing to collect brood but will not be doing an egg take until the end of October Egg takes for these locations often occur as late as November. Both Whittier and Cordova are stocked by PWSAC and are terminal harvest areas. No formal surveys are conducted for coho salmon in Prince William Sound, except for on the Copper River Delta.
To date, no management actions have been implemented during the 2022 sport fishery season.
Salmon fishing on the Copper River Delta has been fair to poor. Water conditions have been abnormally high with large amounts of rain during the entire coho salmon season. Based on aerial surveys, as of September 24, 2022, the Copper River Delta coho salmon return is within an expected range to meet the SEG of 32,000 - 67,000 fish but the surveys are still ongoing when conditions allow.
On September 9, 2022, the coho salmon bag and possession limits were reduced to 2 per day, 2 in possession and the use of bait was prohibited in streams that crossed the Copper River Delta highway.
The total allowable harvest (TAH) of 167,131 pounds was established from the results of the fall 2021 Prince William Sound shrimp survey. The guideline harvest level (GHL) for the noncommercial (sport and subsistence) shrimp fishery harvest was established to be 100,300 pounds. This was very similar to the TAH and GHL established for the 2021 season. Approximately 4,735 noncommercial permits were issued in 2022. Effort and harvest are assessed post-season after harvest reports are received. Anecdotal reports from permit holders indicate that shrimping was good this season.
A preseason emergency order effective April 15, 2022, reduced the number of allowable noncommercial shrimp pots per person and per vessel to two pots in areas near the ports of Valdez and Whittier, and three pots in outer areas of Prince William Sound.
