Bag limits for sockeye salmon in Resurrection River and nearby areas of Resurrection Bay are doubled starting Friday, June 21 to 12 per day, the State Department of Fish and Game said Wednesday. The change is effective until the end of July.

The area of the increase includes freshwaters downstream from the Seward Highway and downstream from Nash Road to the department’s regulatory saltwater markers and in Resurrection Bay north of a line from Caines Head to the north point of Thumb Cove.

Snagging is not allowed in freshwater, and fishers are restricted to unbaited, single-hook artificial lures in the freshwater area open to salmon fishing.

The liberalization of the limit comes after Bear Lake’s sustainable escapement goal has been achieved, the department says. Nearly 11,000 sockeye have been counted as of Tuesday.

“Fishing has been good on some tides and slower on others,” Area Management Biologist Brittany Blain-Roth says in the release. “Anglers should be aware that they may have to put in extra effort to catch 12 fish.”

For more information about fishing regulations and opportunity, visit adfg.alaska.gov.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.