Salmon fever is raging in Southcentral.
For the first time in at least eight years, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is running out of personal-use fishing permits for Upper Cook Inlet, forcing an emergency printing.
At least 25 percent more dipnetters are working the beaches this year.
Typically, Fish and Game prints 30,000 permits for Upper Cook Inlet, which Alaskans must get before they can start scooping salmon. Last year, the department issued fewer than 24,000 of them.
"We've never run out," said Ken Marsh, a public information officer at Fish and Game. "(But) I'm fielding plenty of calls from anxious, prospective dipnetters who have been unable to find permits."
Although permits were still available at Fish and Game's midtown offices on Tuesday, an array of outdoors and sporting goods stores issued their last permits early this week; a fresh stock is expected from Fish and Game today.
Jason Powell, a salesman at Sportsmen's Warehouse in Anchorage, said he ran out Sunday.
"It's been real heavy. The other night, we went from 16 nets to nothing in a few hours," he said.
Soldotna's Trustyworthy Hardware and Fishing ran out Monday, said saleswoman Molly Copple, after a steady stream of about 20 people a day seeking permits.
"Interest has been very high, probably because there's a real good run of sockeye and no humpies," she said.
On Friday alone, the Anchorage Fish and Game office issued 427 permits.
Permit holders can bring home 25 salmon per permit, plus 10 more for each additional household member.
Since 1996, the Kenai River red salmon personal-use dipnet harvest has grown 128 percent to 234,109 fish landed last year -- though it was down from the 295,496 landed in 2005.
The Kasilof harvest, though smaller, has grown even faster than the Kenai's -- up 383 percent to 54,051 in 13 years.
Despite the growth, the Kasilof escapement goal has been exceeded in 10 of the past 11 years, and late last week the area open to dipnetters at the mouth of the river was expanded while anglers' bag limits were doubled to six per day, 12 in possession.
DUELING DERBIES
The first of Southcentral's big silver salmon derbies gets under way Saturday when the six-week Valdez Silver Salmon Derby kicks off. Next month, the nine-day Seward Silver Salmon Derby follows suit.
While the 54th Seward derby is the grandfather of Alaska fishing derbies, Valdez has a few things to boast about:
• Biggest Prize: Valdez offers $15,000 for the biggest fish; Seward pays $10,000.
• Biggest 2008 Fish: Derek Werder of Valdez won his hometown derby last year with a 22.14-pound silver, far beefier than the 18.57-pounder Renee Wellington of Palmer landed to top the Seward derby.
Werder's fish, the biggest silver caught in Alaska last year, was a record for Valdez. Since the Seward derby started in 1956, only three 20-pounders have been weighed, topped by Shirley Basinger's 22.14-pound fish in 2002.
"We have a lot of prizes in other areas," said Laura Cluberton, programs coordinator with the Seward Chamber of Commerce. "Mystery fish, tagged fish, first fish, most fish. We're trying to appeal to all sorts of people -- family, youth, men, women -- and to get different people to participate. Plus, it's different -- they're six weeks long compared to a nine-day derby (in Seward).
"We're not just about the biggest fish."
Since 2005, the average number of tickets sold per day in Seward has increased 82 percent to 690 a day, Cluberton said.
Her counterpart in Valdez, Laurie Prax, said she doesn't think the two derbies compete, even though both draw many Mat-Su anglers.
"We're aware that they're there, but we're trying to do our own thing," Prax said. "We're trying to do what works for Valdez, and we don't care where (anglers) come from."
"We're similar in a lot of ways, and different in a lot of other ways."
And while Seward offers more prizes overall, Valdez offers the biggest -- as well as a raffle drawing for a new Ford 4x4 pickup.
"That's something anybody can win," Prax said.
Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.
By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com