The Nushagak River ( esu, Iilgayaq) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in southwest

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, United States. It begins in the

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...

and flows southwest to Nushagak Bay, an inlet of

Bristol Bay Bristol Bay ( esu, Iilgayaq, russian: Залив Бристольский) is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km (250 mi) long and 290 km, ( ...

, east of

Dillingham, Alaska Dillingham ( esu, Curyung; russian: Диллингхем ), also known as Curyung, is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. Incorporated in 1963, it is an important commercial fishing port on Nushagak Bay. As of the 2020 c ...

. The Mulchatna River is a major tributary. Other navigable tributaries include the

Nuyakuk River The Nuyakuk River is a tributary of the Nushagak River in southwestern Alaska, United States. From its source at Tikchik Lake, an extension of Nuyakuk Lake in Wood-Tikchik State Park, it flows eastward into the larger river upstream of Koligan ...

and the King Salmon River. Jet-boats are commonly used to access these tributaries and the upper Nushagak. The

Wood River Wood River may refer to: Rivers In Canada * Wood River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Columbia River via Kinbasket Lake * Wood River (Saskatchewan), a river in south-west Saskatchewan In Ireland * Wood River (County Clare), Kilru ...

, Iowithla River and the Kokwok River are smaller tributaries. Fishermen gillnetting in the Nushagak River, Alaska, 1917 (COBB 288)

The villages of

Portage Creek Portage Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 2 at the 2010 census, down from 36 at the 2000 census. Geography The Portage Creek CDP is located at (58.906088, -157.716758), ...

, Ekwok, Koliganek and New Stuyahok are on the river. The town of Dillingham (Pop. 2,466) is on

Nushagak Bay Nushagak Bay is a large estuary covering over 100 km2 in southwest part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It opens to Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the eastern Bering Sea north of the Alaska Peninsula. It is home to the area's largest ci ...

. The Nushagak River is downstream of the proposed

Pebble Mine Pebble Mine is the common name of a proposed copper-gold- molybdenum mining project in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark. As of November 2020 the mine developer, Northern Dynasty Minerals, was seeking ...

, whose tailings storage lake would sit at the headwaters of the Koktuli River, one of the Nushagak's tributaries. Villages on the Nushagak are among the major opponents of the proposal. Five species of Pacific

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

( Chinook,

coho The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is ...

sockeye The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

, chum, and

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

) spawn in the river or its tributaries. Commercial, subsistence and sport

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

are important in the area. Most notable is the annual run of king (Chinook) salmon which occurs from mid-June to mid-July. Rainbow trout, northern pike, grayling, burbot, whitefish and Arctic char are also present in the Nushagak. It is estimated that over 50% of the world's production of wild salmon is harvested in the Nushagak River and the Bristol Bay area.

References

External links

Pebble Mine Photos and InformationEkwok Alaska Airport & US Post Office on the Nushagak River
{{authority control Rivers of Dillingham Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

See also

References

External links