Welcome to the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report! A huge push of salmon swam up the Wood River on Sunday, putting Nushagak District fishermen on short notice. Egegik fishermen hauled in around 44,000 fish. While we wait on numbers from the counting towers, some seafood processing companies aren’t waiting to dole out their base prices.

The iowithla river fire near Dillingham is now no longer growing towards the community according to an update from the Alaska interagency coordination center on Saturday. It was last logged at 27,500 acres and was about 9 miles from the town before fire boss planes dropped water on the flames to stop its growth.

The Iowithla River fire is now only 9.3 miles from Dillingham. One plane was dispatched Tuesday to douse the flames. However, smoke prevented the plane from flying to the area, according to an update from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

Several wildfires have spread across the Bristol Bay region within the last week. At least seven have burned over 3,000 acres each, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

The Environmental Protection Agency last month moved to restrict mining of the Pebble deposit. The EPA will host public hearings both virtually and in-person in Dillingham on June 16 and in Newhalen on June 17. People can submit written comments on the proposal through July 5. Anyone who wants to testify can register ahead of time at epa.gov/bristolbay or on site.

The fire was discovered Wednesday afternoon; the blaze is 30 miles northeast of Dillingham. Due to limited resources, the fire is in a modified-management area, meaning the Division of Forestry has it listed as a lower priority.

The Arcana Creek fire near the village of Aleknagik is now contained. The fire was discovered Tuesday and the Division of Forestry hopes to have it fully extinguished by Friday morning.

Dillingham held its second-ever pride march over the weekend, in honor of National LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Organizers hope to grow a community of participants and allies around Bristol Bay.

Two lightning-caused fires were discovered near Aleknagik on Monday. The Arcana Creek fire is only 5 miles north of Aleknagik and has burned 13 acres so far. The Kokwok River fire is much larger at over 1000 acres burned, however it is 33 miles away from the village in Wood-Tikchik State Park. The City of Dillingham is providing N-95s at city hall and the boat harbor in the blue building near Tide Table. If you can’t get to one of these sites, you can call Dillingham Dispatch at (907) 842-5354 and a mask can be delivered to you.

The fire is fully controlled, however decades of spilled fuels and buried metals continue to burn underground.