Dipnetters will get 24 hours in early June to scoop sockeyes out of the Copper River

Alaska residents can dipnet for sockeye salmon on the Copper River during a one-day, personal-use opening on Sunday, June 7.

The Chitina Subdistrict fishery will open at 12:01 a.m. and close at 11:59 p.m., the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said Wednesday in a statement.

Dipnetters must be Alaska residents and must have both a Chitina personal-use fishery permit and a valid Alaska resident sportfishing license.

The annual limit is 25 red salmon for the head of household and 10 red salmon for each dependent. Steelhead cannot be kept and must be returned to the water unharmed; only one king salmon can be kept and will count toward a household’s annual limit of kings.

The opening is the first of the summer under the Copper River personal-use dipnet salmon fishery management plan. During the week of May 18-24, the Miles Lake sonar counted 13,688 salmon, sufficient numbers for a 24-hour dipnet opening, according to Fish and Game.

Future openings will depend on the number of sockeye returning upriver.

[The charms and dangers of Chitina dipnetting]

One thing new for dipnetters to know: All harvest forms must be completed online at the Fish and Game website, so no more mailing or hand-delivering the forms.

The penalty for not reporting harvests online by Oct. 15 is the loss of future personal-use fishing privileges, and permit holders who fail to report will be denied a permit for the fishery the next calendar year, Fish and Game said.

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