Subsistence users near Dillingham can dip net this summer, and they can catch fish any time they like because the Board of Fisheries voted to remove a schedule that restricted subsistence fishing in the area to three days per week during peak sockeye season.
Discussions concluded Friday, after attendees provided input on the 47 subsistence, commercial and sport fishing proposals. The board begins deliberations on Group 1 proposals tomorrow. Tune into KDLG 670 AM during the meeting to listen live!
The Alaska Board of Fisheries will vote on 47 proposals at the Bristol Bay Finfish meeting this week. Advisory committee reports will be a major factor. At their meetings, the Lake Iliamna and Lower Bristol Bay ACs weighed in on the contentious and recurring issue of permit stacking.
After a couple of record breaking years in Bristol Bay, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is forecasting the 2019 sockeye salmon season will be slightly below the 10-year-average and slightly above the long-term average.
The Alaska Board of Fisheries will take up 47 proposals at the Bristol Bay Finfish meeting in Dillingham this November. As the Nushagak and Naknek-Kvichak Fish and Game Advisory Committees decided which proposals they will support, permit stacking and subsistence regulations weighed heavily in the discussions.
Small boats fishing for cod in state waters are getting more of the Bering Sea quota, thanks to a recent Alaska Board of Fisheries decision. Some stakeholders, including the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, are voicing concern.
Fishing opens for Bristol Bay red king crab, Bering Sea snow crab and Bering Sea tanner crab on Oct. 15. The snow crab population is on the rise, while red king crab and tanner crab are declining.
It was a rollercoaster salmon season around Bristol Bay this summer. West side districts saw their largest sockeye runs on record. East side districts saw their latest red runs on record. In the end, every river in the bay made its escapement goal.
The exvessel value per permit has been over $100,000 for the past 10 years in the Chignik Management Area. This year, the entire fishery brought in $3000, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's season summary.
Chignik River sockeye came in far below escapement this summer, and there were no commercial fishing openings targetting reds. On August 23, the governor declared it an economic emergency.
The 58-foot vessel, which was operating as a tender near Clark's Point, sank July 25. After more than a month at the bottom of the Nushagak Bay, a salvage team is lifting the ship and will tow it to Dutch Harbor.
