Organizations representing Yukon River communities are drafting a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy seeking a fishery disaster declaration for this summer’s

About 189,000 fall chum had entered the Yukon River as of Sept. 7. At least 300,000 fish must enter the river before either Alaska or Yukon fishers can begin harvesting.

The Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee is recommending the complete cessation of fishing for Chinook salmon this year on the Yukon River.

Biologists have to figure out how to monitor salmon populations in rural communities without the danger of bringing the coronavirus into those communities.

The number of chinook salmon that reached the Whitehorse fish ladder this year hit a 40-year low, and it's not clear why. Just 282 chinook passed through the fish ladder this year, compared to 690 last year. "We did see some large pre-spawn mortality die-offs in a tributary of the Yukon River — the Koyukuk in Alaska. This was for summer chum, and not chinook — but we expect that that higher water temperature also affected the chinook migrating through."

Dead chum salmon are lining the banks of one of the Yukon River’s largest tributaries. Koyukuk River residents and scientists alike suspect the deaths are

Dead chum salmon have been spotted floating down the Yukon river. Water temperatures are measuring at 70 degrees, the warmest in recollection.

‘It’s still only about half of the historical average,’ fisheries official says

On the Yukon River, subsistence salmon fishing is being closed to protect king salmon as they migrate upriver.