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FAIRBANKS — Even though subsistence fishermen on the Yukon River have been restricted from catching king salmon, it’s open season for personal-use and sport fishermen on the Chena and Salcha rivers in Fairbanks, at least for now.

And the kings are here.

The first king salmon in the Chena River was spotted early Monday from a Department of Fish and Game counting tower at the Moose Creek Dam on the Chena Flood Control Project, reported Audra Brase, Fairbanks area sport fish biologist.

It was one of two fish that has been seen at the dam so far.

The early arrival of the fish surprised biologists. Typically the first kings don’t show up in the Chena or Salcha rivers until the first week of July, and this year’s run was supposed to be late, Brase said.

“Everything was projected to be late, so we figured we weren’t going to see any fish until July 4 at the earliest,” Brase said. “We saw them earlier than expected.”

Despite restrictions placed on subsistence and sport fishermen along the Yukon River, biologists are waiting to see how king counts in both the Chena and Salcha rivers progress before considering any restrictions on the sport or personal-use fisheries in the Tanana Valley.

The Chena and Salcha rivers are the two biggest spawning streams for Yukon kings and the fish that turn up the Tanana River are considered a separate component from kings that go up the main stem of the Yukon to Canada, Brase said.

The Tanana River component of the run “could be just fine,” she said. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to restrict sport or personal-use fishing.

“We don’t want to jump the gun and close it down,” Brase said. “That’s the nice thing about the Chena and Salcha (counting) towers.

“If we didn’t have them, we’d probably be more conservative and go to catch and release right away,” she said.

The department’s goal is to count at least 2,800 fish in the Chena River and 3,300 in the Salcha River.

Technicians count the fish as they swim over white panels placed on the bottom of the river, making the fish visible in good water conditions.

Last year’s count in the Chena River was 3,500, and 5,600 kings were counted in the Salcha River.

“After this weekend, we’ll have an idea of how it’s progressing (compared to past years),” Brase said.

Counters will begin looking for fish in the Salcha River this weekend, she said.

The Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association funds and performs the counts on the Salcha.

The daily bag limit for sport fishing in the Chena and Salcha rivers is one fish a day that is 20 inches or larger.

Anglers can keep 10 fish a day if they are less than 20 inches.

The Sport Fish Division reduced the bag limit for kings in the main stem of the Yukon from three to one a day, but there is very little sport fishing for kings that occurs on the Yukon, Brase said.

Mostly it’s on the Anvik and Andreafsky rivers in the lower Yukon, she said.