King salmon fishing season summer 2023

[ACorgan]

I’ve been seeing several news headlines in the PNW about the salmon-based court case out of Washington. From what I can gather, a judge in Washington made a ruling that has the potential to shut down the king salmon season in SE Alaska due to a perceived threat to the endangered orca populations in Washington. 
 

I’m sure people have strong opinions one way or another, but not looking to start any fights here. What I do want to know is whether this will only impact commercial fishing or if it will halt sport fishing as well. Does anyone know? I have a salmon fishing excursion booked for end of June and just wondering if I should swap it to a halibut one instead…

[SightCRR]

Make sure you are specific about where you are planning to fish. I think that like many of the Wa rivers most but not all AK rivers are already closed. Not sure about ocean. sightcrr. 

[wolfie11]

It is impossible to predict what effects this will have on the sport fishery, which has already been impacted over the last few years.  Current regulations are catch and release only until 14 June, then one king over 28“.

[ACorgan]

14 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

Make sure you are specific about where you are planning to fish. I think that like many of the Wa rivers most but not all AK rivers are already closed. Not sure about ocean. sightcrr. 

Good point about the specificity. For my particular trip, it’s out of Ketchikan and the description says we’ll be fishing “in the sheltered waters of the Clover Passage”