Brian Venua
Fisheries ReporterBrian Venua grew up in Dillingham and attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. He got his start in journalism at KDLG in 2020, interviewing and writing for the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report and signed on as a full-time host and reporter later that year.
As a local reporter, Brian covered a wide range of topics such as wildlife, economy, politics, health, and culture. Several of his articles have been featured by local, statewide and national news organizations, including the Bristol Bay Times, Alaska Public Media and National Native News.
He enjoys landscape photography, pyrography, hiking, kayaking, cooking, and music performance.
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Before 1951, all commercial fishermen in Bristol Bay had to fish on sailboats. Today, the entire commercial fishery is motorized. But a few enthusiasts are bringing one historic vessel back to the bay.
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The Nushagak District’s harvests have been huge, but that’s been a puzzle for biologists and managers. The Port Moller Test Fishery calculates catch indices for Bristol Bay. The catch index lets fishermen and biologists know how many fish they should expect before it gets here, however it seems last week’s numbers were misleading.
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In Dillingham, nets can be brought to the harbormaster’s office, the PAF Boatyard office, or at the Curyung Tribal Council. In Naknek, the collection center is across from the city dock in the AML Boatyard. In Egegik, nets can be collected at the Alaska General Seafoods or OBI plants.
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Another day, another million-fish catch in the Nushagak. Harvest in that district is already the fourth-largest on record. After a lull, escapement up rivers on the West Side jumped on Tuesday. Egegik fleets brought in almost a million fish as well.
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You might know Jean, or Jeano, Barrett as the harbor master in Dillingham for the last 14 years. He retired this June. KDLG’s Brian Venua sat down with Barrett to talk about why he chose to retire, his biggest accomplishments, and what he’s up to now.
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The Nushagak District had its third-largest single day harvest with about 1.78 million salmon caught and Egegik fishers saw another 1.2 million in their nets as well. The bay-wide run is now 34.4 million fish.
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The Nushagak fleet had another million-day catch on Sunday, but Egegik wasn’t far behind. Ugashik fisherfolk continue to bring in the biggest loads as the bay-wide run edges near 30 million fish.
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Nushagak District fisherfolk caught 2.46 million salmon on Thursday. That's more than half a million more fish than the previous record set last year.
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The Nushagak District broke the record for single day harvest: The fleet caught 2.46 million salmon on Thursday. Average drift deliveries there had more than 2,000 sockeye. Ugashik fishers are still bringing in the heaviest loads.
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The bay’s daily sockeye run declined on Wednesday to 1.9 million salmon and Port Moller numbers are on the decline as well. Nushagak District fisherfolk caught the most fish but Ugashik fisherfolk had almost four times as many sockeye per drift delivery.