# When is Copper River salmon season, and how does it work? > Copper River salmon season opens in the second half of May, with the first period on May 22 in both 2025 and 2026, and runs into September, when coho finish it. ADF&G opens each fishing period by announcement, based on the count at its Miles Lake sonar, so there is no fixed calendar of fishing days. _Updated Sep 24, 2026._ Copper River salmon season opens in the second half of May and runs into September. The first commercial period, a 12-hour drift gillnet opening, fell on May 22 in both 2025 and 2026; sockeye and king salmon carry the early weeks, and coho take over from mid-August. There is no fixed calendar of fishing days. ADF&G's Cordova office opens each period by announcement, based on how many fish are passing its sonar at Miles Lake. That last point is the one that matters for anyone following the season. The dates are decided a few days at a time, against a count of fish, so the way to know what happens next is to read the announcements rather than a schedule. ## How the season opens The Copper River District is part of ADF&G's Prince William Sound management area. Under current regulation (5 AAC 24.310) the district may only open after May 21, and only by emergency order. In 2026 ADF&G's first announcement, issued May 14, opened the district at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, May 22, for a 12-hour period, with the waters of an expanded king salmon "inside closure area" kept closed. The Miles Lake sonar camp had gone in on May 11. The 2024 opener came earlier, on May 16. ## How each fishing period is set Every period is an emergency order, and periods open at 7:00 a.m. or 7:00 p.m. ADF&G's 2026 outlook described the early-season pattern as two evenly spaced periods a week, the first typically starting Monday morning, with each announcement out by 2:00 p.m. What moves the schedule is the sonar. Managers compare the cumulative count at Miles Lake with the count they would expect by that date if the run were on track for the season's inriver goal. On June 13, 2026, for example, ADF&G reported 182,322 fish past the sonar through June 12 against 241,134 expected. A count running behind means less fishing time; a count running ahead can bring unscheduled extra openings, which the announcements warn "may occur at any time." King salmon add a second constraint. The Copper River King Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 24.361) limits fishing in the inside closure area during statistical weeks 20 and 21 to no more than one 12-hour period, and in 2026 ADF&G kept that area closed for the early periods, citing recent poor Chinook production. The same year it made a large-fish sonar apportionment program at Miles Lake its main in-season tool for counting kings. ## The goals the openings answer to The district's management plan (5 AAC 24.360) sets a sustainable escapement goal of 360,000 to 750,000 sockeye for the upper Copper River. On top of that ADF&G announces an inriver goal each year, measured at the Miles Lake sonar, that adds room for the subsistence, personal-use, sport and hatchery fish bound upriver. For 2026 the inriver goal was 632,700 fish. Sockeye that spawn in the Copper River Delta below the sonar are tracked separately by aerial survey, against their own goal of 55,000 to 130,000, and the king salmon goal is 21,000 to 31,000 fish. [Escapement in plain English](/guides/escapement-in-plain-english) explains how goals like these work. ## From sockeye to coho, and when it ends From early to mid-August the district is managed for coho, usually with one or two 24-hour periods a week; in 2026 the switch came with a period on August 13. The season has no fixed closing date. It ends when ADF&G stops announcing periods: in 2026 the Cordova office was still scheduling 36-hour periods for September 21 and 24. So the answer to "is Copper River salmon season over?" is on ADF&G's [Prince William Sound salmon announcements page](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareapws.salmon), not on a calendar. ## A worked example: two recent seasons In 2025 the district landed 840,271 sockeye, 2% above its 10-year average of 824,000, along with 5,779 kings, 54% below average, and 162,396 coho, according to ADF&G's season summary. The sonar counted 895,308 salmon, 41% above that year's inriver goal of 633,400. 2026 went the other way. The sonar count ran behind its expected pace, and when it stopped counting on July 28 it had 570,391 fish against 600,897 expected. ADF&G said sonar trends pointed to a "smaller than forecast run" and kept commercial fishing closed from mid-June into early July; the sockeye season had just six openings, on May 22, 26 and 28, June 4, June 11 and July 9. By ADF&G's September 4 announcement the district's 2026 harvest stood at 243,000 sockeye, 4,250 kings and 155,000 coho. The price side is where the district stands out. In ADF&G's 2025 preliminary figures on this site's [Prince William Sound page](/district/prince-william-sound), sockeye across the Sound averaged $2.57 a pound at the boat, against $1.03 in Bristol Bay. The Copper River supplied 840,271 of the area's 1.24 million sockeye that year. The Sound figure is an area average, not a Copper River price, but it carries the district's early-season fish. [Chart: Cumulative pink harvest, Prince William Sound, 2026 (thousands of fish)](https://therun.news/district/prince-william-sound) ([data](https://therun.news/district/prince-william-sound.md) — chart image: https://therun.news/charts/district/prince-william-sound/chart.png) [Table: Prince William Sound salmon harvest](https://therun.news/district/prince-william-sound) ([data](https://therun.news/district/prince-william-sound.md)) The chart above follows the area's largest species this season and the table breaks out all five, for the whole Prince William Sound area from ADF&G's Blue Sheet, which is the grain this site carries. The sockeye and king lines include the Copper River catch; the pink and chum lines are mostly the Sound's hatchery returns, which made up 84% of the area's 2025 commercial harvest, per ADF&G. ## How to follow the season ADF&G posts every period and harvest update on its Prince William Sound salmon page and on a recorded line in Cordova, 907-424-7535. Daily sonar passage is on its [Fish Counts database](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/) under Copper River (Miles Lake). For where the Copper River sits in the wider season, see [Alaska salmon season dates by fishery](/guides/the-alaska-salmon-calendar), and for the species themselves, the [sockeye](/species/sockeye) and [Chinook](/species/chinook) pages. The Run reports ADF&G's announcements and harvest as published. It does not forecast runs or openings. ## Related data + guides - [Prince William Sound harvest](https://therun.news/district/prince-william-sound) - [Sockeye harvest and value](https://therun.news/species/sockeye) - [Chinook harvest and value](https://therun.news/species/chinook) - [Alaska salmon season dates by fishery](https://therun.news/guides/the-alaska-salmon-calendar) - [Escapement in plain English](https://therun.news/guides/escapement-in-plain-english) ## Common questions ### When is Copper River salmon season? The commercial season opens in the second half of May and runs into September. Current regulation lets the Copper River District open only after May 21, by emergency order, and the first 12-hour period fell on May 22 in both 2025 and 2026. Sockeye and kings carry the early weeks, and coho periods run from mid-August. ### Is Copper River salmon season over? The season ends when ADF&G's Cordova office stops announcing fishing periods, usually in September, so the latest Prince William Sound announcement is the answer. In 2026 the office was still scheduling periods for September 21 and 24. ### How long is Copper River salmon season? About four months from the May opener into September, but the fleet fishes only the periods ADF&G opens. In 2026 the sockeye season had six openings between May 22 and July 9 before coho management began in August. ### When can you buy fresh Copper River salmon? Fresh fish come from each fishing period, starting with the opener in the second half of May. Sockeye and kings come first and coho arrive from mid-August, and which weeks have fresh fish depends on which periods ADF&G opens. ### How does ADF&G decide when to open the Copper River? By comparing the count at its Miles Lake sonar with the count expected by that date for the year's inriver goal (632,700 fish in 2026). A count behind the curve means less fishing time; a count ahead can bring extra openings. King salmon rules also limit fishing in the inside closure area early in the season. --- Canonical URL: https://therun.news/guides/how-the-copper-river-salmon-season-works