Fisheries

Sockeye returns to the Chignik River are the lowest in 50 years, devestating local subsistence and commercial fishing. Area villages are requesting assistence from Governor Bill Walker and from the Alaska Board of Fisheries. The BOF will consider the request at a July 17 emergency meeting.

Every couple of days during salmon season, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports how many sockeye from each age class are returning to Bristol Bay. KDLG's Austin Fast followed their catch samplers for a day to see how they get those numbers.

It's the tenth anniversary of the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy. This week-long course brings youth from around the region to teach them the skills they'd need to get a job in the sports fishing industry, which is dominated by guides from the lower 48. 

Seasoned fishermen in Naknek and Dillingham weigh in with advice for newcomers to the industry.

It's Charley Wren's 74th summer fishing in Bristol Bay and time, he says, for his demotion from captain to cabin boy. His son Travis Wren is taking over the F/V Wrangler and the family business.

Fishermen faced blustery bouts of rain Tuesday at Dillingham’s small boat harbor, but that’s not dampening their enthusiasm for Wednesday's commercial drift net opener in the Nushagak and Igushik sections.

Halibut season is winding down. So far 45,977 pounds of halibut have been landed in area 4-E. Some of the 21 fishermen participating between Dillingham, Naknek and Togiak send fish to processors. Others sell them dockside. A Dillingham fleet is taking a different approach to selling their catch.

Thirty percent of the Togiak sac roe herring quota is allocated to the gillnet fleet. This year, the F/V Wave Ryder was the fishery’s gillnet fleet of one.