All king salmon angling -- including catch-and-release fishing -- will be banned on the 25-mile Karluk River this year, as well as on the Ayakulik River.

For four years, state biologists have failed to reach the minimum number of kings they want to escape upriver to spawn, ensuring future runs on the Karluk. As a result, drastic action is needed, said Donn Tracey, Kodiak area management biologist for Fish and Game.

"Our assumptions based on recent escapements is that the abundance is likely to remain low for years," Tracey said this week. "The one bright spot is the fact that we've seen this kind of downturn before, particularly on the Ayakulik. That was in the late 1970s and early '80s -- and it rebounded from that."

As recently as 2004, more than 24,700 kings came back to the Ayakulik. Last year, the return was 89 percent smaller.

Similarly, the Karluk hasn't met its minimum escapement goal of 3,600 kings since 2006, while the Ayakulik has fallen short of its 4,800 minimum since 2007.

"Chinook (king salmon) abundance is on a trend of decline on a regional basis," Tracey said. "Throughout Alaska and the North Pacific, stocks are down."

That's been evident in virtually every Southcentral king fishery. Comparing last year's return to that of 2005 shows:

• Deshka River -- down 68 percent to 11,960 kings returning to spawn.

• Kenai River -- down 45 percent to 11,334 kings.

• Anchor River -- down 69 percent to 3,504 kings.

"Angler interest has dissipated significantly," Tracey said. "That's something you'd expect. It will take some time for anglers to rediscover that fishery -- even after it bounces back -- and its troubles are compounded by the (weak national) economy."

The clear Karluk is a gorgeous river, largely a series of shallow ripples over a rocky bottom slicing through lush hillsides. In its prime, anglers could hook and release more than a dozen kings on a good day.

"Our bookings are way down," Michael Carlson, owner of Larson Bay Lodge, said last year. "It wasn't that long ago, maybe five or six years, it was a great run. But over the years it's diminished."

And while the king fishing is kaput, anglers still purse silver salmon, steelhead and other species with success on these rivers.

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.