Jessie Sheldon
Fisheries ReportJessie Sheldon is a fisheries reporter for KDLG, which brings daily news reports throughout the summer to thousands of commercial fishermen in Bristol Bay. Previously, she worked as a Wilderness Research Fellow for the Society for Wilderness Stewardship in California’s Sierra Nevada, and has spent several summers working in Alaska, both on the water and in the recording studio. Jessie graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Environmental Science. She’s passionate about marine ecosystems, connection through storytelling, and all things fishy.
-
The Port Moller Test Fishery wrapped up operations for the season last Thursday, July 13. KDLG’s Jessie Sheldon checked in with Jordan Head, director of the test fishery, on the final days of this season and what looked different this year—including this weekend’s big, late in the season push of fish.
-
Harvests slowed down a bit after a surprise encore of record harvest days over the weekend. But catches were still going strong Sunday with a baywide catch of 1.43 million. Naknek-Kvichak and Egegik fleets brought in the biggest harvests again yesterday. Escapement was at 550,000 fish. The bay wide run is now 45.9 million, fast approaching the season forecast of 51 million fish.
-
KDLG paid a visit to the Nushagak River sonar station, to learn more about the only site in Bristol Bay where upstream salmon counts are apportioned by species: sockeye, king, and chum.
-
Just when we thought the run was slowing down, Thursday was the second biggest harvest day of the season to date with 2.5 million fish hauled in bay-wide. Naknek-Kvichak fleets caught 1.2 million of that. Escapement was also a strong 1.2 million. The total run is now 37 million fish.
-
KDLG tagged along with the Wood River tower counter crew with the Department of Fish and Game to learn more about the 24 hour count throughout the salmon season.
-
After one to two years of munching on zooplankton in freshwater, young sockeye - or smolt - head for salt water to begin the next chapter of their anadromous lives, where there’s a whole different menu available.
-
The bay-wide catch slowed down some on Wednesday, but still almost half a million fish were caught yesterday. Almost half of that was in Egegik with 216,000 fish followed by the Naknek-Kvichak. The total run is now at 34.5 million.
-
When salmon first hatch from eggs, fighting their way out of freshwater gravel beds and into the world, they’re hungry. The young salmon are on the hunt for tiny, microscopic animals called zooplankton.
-
The bay-wide harvest dropped somewhat Tuesday with 723,000 fish hauled in. Catches were about neck-in-neck in Egegik, Naknek, and the Nushagak with around a quarter million fish each. The bay-wide escapement is at 8 million fish. The total run is at 32.7 million.
-
The fish in this season’s Bristol Bay sockeye run are older than usual - having spent more years in the open ocean - and significantly bigger, according to fisheries management researchers. KDLG’s Jessie Sheldon talked with Stacy Vega, area research biologist for commercial fisheries with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to learn more.