Isabelle Ross

Dillingham has extended a set of safety restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. The city council passed the ordinances during two meetings last week.

For kids in Bristol Bay, summer is a time to explore, fish and hang out with friends. The pandemic has changed summer activities for everyone. But Dillingham’s annual culture camps went ahead — with a few adjustments, and a few unexpected benefits have come out of a tough situation. 

In the penultimate episode of the season, we take a look at the beating heart of our show -- commercial fishing. We parse through updates on federal and state relief funding for fishermen, perspectives on the Naknek-Kvichak's huge year, and a final look at the market.

A lull in returns today -- at 468,000 fish, the daily harvest bay-wide was about half what it was the day before. The total run is 55.9 million fish -- about half a million away from last year’s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the final environmental review for the proposed Pebble Mine.

 At 55.3 million fish, the bay’s total run so far this season is just a million shy of last year’s. While Nushagak’s catch is slowing to a trickle, the east side districts are still pumping out the fish; bay-wide harvest was almost 800,000 yesterday. We also have an update on Togiak’s extension.

The first base prices are out for Bristol Bay sockeye. The season is winding down, but daily catch across the bay was still almost 700,000 fish. At 54.4 million fish, the total run is the seventh largest on record, and the Naknek-Kvichak makes up almost 44% of that.

The bay-wide total run was 53.5 million fish -- almost 5 million over the preseason forecast, and 8 million over the 10-year average. Harvest across the bay is now at 35.8 million fish, and total escapement for the season is 17.7 million. The Naknek-Kvichak has the highest total run in the bay, and at 13.1 million, it also has the highest harvest.   

The bay-wide run is now at 52.6 million fish -- almost 4 million more than projected, and a million over where it was at this point last year. The Nushagak is winding down, and all rivers except Togiak have reached or exceeded their escapement goals.