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MARSHALL - Fishermen from an Alaska village say they defied a closure on the Yukon River so they could catch king salmon, a revered food in the area.

State and federal authorities have severely restricted king salmon on the Yukon this summer to help the struggling run recover. Commercial fishing for king salmon hasn't been allowed, and subsistence fishing has been limited to two 18-hour openings each week.

King salmon has long been a staple food along the Yukon River. Residents dry or freeze the fish to eat year round. Also, commercial fishing for the fish usually provides one of the few opportunities for villagers to make money.

This summer's restrictions are worrying residents who don't have enough king salmon to last the year, said Nick Andrew Jr., a member of the Ohagamuit tribal government, based in Marshall, a Yup'ik Eskimo village of 417 on the Yukon River about 400 miles west of Anchorage.

"Usually by this date everyone's subsistence king salmon needs are met and on the drying racks and in the freezers and salted," he said. "But as we speak, only 20 percent of the village's king salmon needs have been met. It's a bad situation."

The fishermen saw no wildlife troopers and were not cited, he said. Fishermen in six boats caught 100 king salmon in gillnets, then cut the fish for drying and freezing and delivered it to widows, elders and disabled residents. Andrew said one elderly woman cried when her portion was delivered.

Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers, said wildlife investigators are looking into the claims of illegal fishing, but had no proof beyond the fishermen's statements that they had defied the ban.

"There has to be ... corroborating evidence to back it up," she said.

Andrew said the protest fishing was sanctioned by the Ohagamuit and Marshall tribal governments. Earlier this summer, Andrew, in a letter published by The Tundra Drums, said he and others would get their kings, even if it meant going to jail or getting a ticket.

"Our original intent was to protest," he said. "We went out there all gung ho, ready to bear a grin and go out for a cause. The Lord provided us our fish and no law enforcement."

Villages along the lower Yukon have had a long, hard winter that followed similar restrictions to king fishing last year, he said. Many Yukon fishermen blame the Bering Sea pollock fleet for inadvertently catching too many river-bound king salmon on the high seas.

Village governments have requested fishery disaster declarations. The state has said it can't declare such a disaster.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke is considering a request.