Ryan Berkoski

Bristol Bay has officially passed its preseason run forecast, with a total count of 51.7 million fish! The Naknek-Kvichak also surpassed its forecast, as catch and escapement are still sustained across the districts.

Port Moller wrapped up their fishery over the weekend with a one final stock composition and catch update, and the Chignik Bay experienced an oil spill that may close part of their their fishery for a couple of days.

The baywide catch is currently at 33 million sockeye. The total run is 46 million fish. That’s 90% of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's preseason forecast.Researchers plan to run experiments at Lake Iliamna this summer, trying to better understand the relationship between sockeye salmon, and a small, spiky fish called three-spined stickleback. And, KDLG checks in with Area Management Biologist Tim Sands.

Port Moller catch indices are declining, while catch and escapement remains consistent across the bay. However, while sockeye in the Nushagak river are still swimming strong, the sonar picked up not a single king yesterday.

The fish are not slowing down, and neither are crews. The Nushagak and Naknek-Kvichak districts are still hauling in schools, while other districts also carry their weight. The majority of rivers in the Bay are within their escapement goal ranges, and a handful have even surpassed them this early on.

The daily catch for Naknek-Kvichak surpassed a million yesterday for the first time this season, and their total run succeeded 10 million. Port Moller is keeping up their steady harvest and hints further that the run is likely to be larger than expected.

Both Naknek-Kvichak and Nushagak fleets nearly hit a million for their daily catch on Saturday, and yesterday’s Port Moller indices report a puzzling low number for the Nushagak River.

The baywide catch is currently at 18 million. The total sockeye run so far is 27 million which is more than half of the preseason forecast. Fishermen were rescued in multiple close calls in the Bay last week. A backlog of used fishing nets has led net recyclers to ask for cleaner webbing at drop off.

The salmon run continues its steady push into all districts, while crews persist in their fishing and await this year’s season peak. Port Moller makes predictions on when that peak could be, and how long the run will be substantial.

Nushagak’s catch yesterday surpassed a million, as all other districts carry on with their hauls, still pulling in a steady load while the bay-wide run surpasses 20 million.