Add another popular Alaska waterway to the list of those shuttered to king salmon anglers.
Anchorage's Ship Creek will close to king salmon sport fishing below the Chugach power plant dam beginning at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, July 1. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had intended to keep the creek open until July 13.
The closure is to help Fish and Game collect king salmon brood stock for its William Jack Hernandez Hatchery. State biologists say they need 750 spawners to provide enough eggs. Typically, about 40 percent of the run has escaped upstream to spawn by this date. But this year, due to high and muddy water, not a single king has been spotted upstream.
"It is prudent to prohibit the harvest of Ship Creek king salmon and thereby ensure that broodstock needs are met," according to Fish and Game area management biologist Dan Bosch.
Earlier this month, Joshua Jones of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson won the Ship Creek Slam'n Salm'n derby by landing a 34.8-pound fish. The derby ended June 17.