Summer fishing on the Kenai River typically attracts crowds of sport fishermen hoping for that trophy king -- but another year of low returns means continued restrictions, with the economic impacts being felt throughout the community.
Even as state fishing restrictions for king salmon are meant to help the fish recover from dismal numbers, the community of Kenai is seeing a different kind of decline outside the river.
Dick Erkeneff is in his tenth season as owner of the Kenai River Raven Bed and Breakfast.
"People come to here because they want hospitality, otherwise they would go to the hotel where they take it or leave it," Erkeneff said.
Charm alone isn't keeping the rooms full. Erkeneff points to a downturn in the economy, but particularly a downturn in king salmon numbers.
"When you add it all up, you look at what's happened since the peak years a couple years back, three years back -- we're down a good 25 percent," Erkeneff said, adding that his bookings are down 65 percent for May and June.
Erkeneff isn't alone. Sport fishing guides say they're having trouble filling boats where a few years ago they were turning people away. Real estate agents say the number of riverfront properties for sale isn't increasing, but prices are declining.
Kenai's mayor, Pat Porter, says she sees the effects a changing fishery is having on the community as a whole.
"The restaurants, the businesses that you have in town, if our people who live here locally aren't receiving the revenue that they normally do, they're going to spend less money throughout the year," Porter said.
For the second year, the river has been closed to subsistence fishing as both state and federal officials track falling king salmon returns.
"We're well past the halfway point and it does not look like we're going to meet the escapement goal this year," said Jeff Anderson, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has many eyes on the river, including sonar systems. The minimum escapement goal on the Kenai is 5,300 fish, but so far sonar counters have picked up just over 2,000. Despite having fewer spawning fish, biologists say the fish can recover.
"The good thing about king salmon is that they do have what we call overlapping generations, so several years of spawning fish contribute to any single return," said Robert Begich, a sport fish biologist with Fish and Game.
If the biologists' predictions come true, another year of fishing restrictions may mean survival -- for kings and businesses alike.
Contact Dan Carpenter