Fisheries

After being closed for nearly a week following a fuel spill from a sunken vessel, the Nushagak District reopened to set and drift fishermen Tuesday afternoon.

Seafood processors across Bristol Bay in the summer rely mostly on the judgment of college students to determine the caliber of sockeye they're buying from fishermen. KDLG's Mitch Borden spent a day on the salmon tender F/V Muskrat to see what goes into grading these salmon — and keeping fishermen honest. 

The Alaska Board of Fisheries declared the low sockeye return to the Chignik River an emergency at a meeting on Tuesday. Members voted to keep the subsection of the Dolgoi Islands and Southeastern District Mainland area closed through August 8. 

For decades, Sherol Mershon has spent her summer in Aleknagik hanging nets for fishermen around Bristol Bay. KDLG's Mitch Borden caught up with her one afternoon and has this postcard.

When the F/V Kristi lost power on Saturday in the Nushagak District, the tide pushed it between two much larger ships, where it lodged on a Yokohama fender. The Kristi sank, and the captain and crew escaped with seconds to spare.

By examining small lines on the backs of salmon scales, researchers can determine the age of salmon returning to Bristol Bay. That information is crucial to fisheries management and forecasts.

Mud is the tie that binds all set netters together, but some are better than others at traipsing through the gloop. We found three fishermen who couldn’t stop gushing about it.

Fishermen try to navigate the challenges of fishing in the Naknek River Special Harvest Area while keeping their nets intact. This can be a hard goal to achieve as boats try to squeeze into the river to catch as many sockeye as they can. 

As Bristol Bay’s 2018 salmon season continues, seafood processors are grappling with a problem that has loomed large over the industry the past few years – an increasing demand for H-2B visas to fill processor jobs.

The Naknek River is a little chaoctic as fishermen compete for fish in the Naknek River Special Harvest Area. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game have mandated fishermen fish in the river to help the Kvichak River reach its escapement goal. This is a challenge for fishermen but it is exciting for locals who now get to watch the sockeye fishery from the shores of the Naknek River.  

Fishermen around Bristol Bay wait anxiously to see if they will have to head to special harvest areas to help the Kvichak River meet its escapement goal.