All 3 of the sockeye producing rivers in the Nushagak District area have met or exceeded the established escapement goals. The Wood River has been over-escaping sockeye salmon since June 29th. Another 37.7-thousand sockeye were counted as escapement on Monday, which pushes the total to over 2.3-million sockeye. That’s over 800-thousand sockeye above the upper end of the escapement goal. The escapement count to the Nushagak River was 12.9-thousand on Monday, which puts the season total up to 512-thousand. That’s well within the escapement goal of 370-thousand to 840-thousand sockeye. The other sockeye producing river in the Nushagak District area is the Igushik River where another 10.3-thousand sockeye were counted on Monday. That pushed the total escapement to over 155.5-thousand. That’s just over the lower end of the escapement goal of between 150-thousand to 300-thousand sockeye. The Nushagak River boasts the largest king salmon run in Bristol Bay and another 293 kings were counted Monday to push the total to over 59.5-thousand. That’s within the escapement goal but is well short of the 95-thousand king salmon management priority. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has responded to all 3 of the salmon producing rivers meeting the escapement goals by allowing continuous fishing by the drift and setnet fleets in the Nushagak District until further notice.
Wood, Nushagak and Igushik Rivers Have Met the Escapement Goals
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