Messages to the fleet
To: Mr. Wilson on the F/V Rita K in the Bay
Happy Birthday Mr. Wilson on F/V Rita K in the Bay. May your day be blessed with decks overflowing with Reds. Love you forever. Mom, Dad, and Caroline.
To: Mike Friccero F/V Miss Gina
Happy Birthday from your oldest and favorite daughter!
To:Tyson on the Free Amine and First Mate Josh.
May the next tides be in your favor. Stay safe and keep up the good work. Sending love and wishes for fishes from Seabeck Washington.
To: Capt. Brent Cathey on the F/V Independence
Hey Pooh Bear. Did your satin pillowcase arrive OK? Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve checked in. You know that guy from last summer I thought was your brother? But then he turned out not to be your brother? He’s visiting again. I guess he’s a massage therapist, and is back in town for an internship. I’ve been more relaxed lately, so have been keeping busy and bedazzled your Carhartt coveralls and will work on snowmachine bibs next. Is Chartreuse still your favorite color?
Miss you! Montana Chick
(PS. Tell Matt Hakela that I couldn’t find that pumpkin spice beard oil he likes. Will look for alternative.)
To Chloe Burns on F/V Margaret M
A song dedication! Sister Golden Hair by America from teh Red Dog Crew.
The Numbers
Fleets around the bay caught a lot of fish yesterday: 1.6 million fish were harvested bringing the season total to nearly 26.7 million.
Looking at baywide escapement, 1.4 million fish swam up the various rivers bringing the total escapement to just over 17.4 million.
About 930,000 fish are in-river as of yesterday and the total baywide run is now at 45 million.
Nushagak District
The Nushagak continues on a slower trajectory compared to last week. Yesterday the fleet caught 461,000 fish. Drift deliveries averaged around 494 sockeye each. The total harvest is at 14.9 million. For an interesting comparison, the total run for the Nushagak District was forecasted at 15 million.
Drifters have caught 82% of the cumulative catch. Nushagak set netters have hauled in around 12%, and Igushik set nets have caught just over 2%. Nearly 4% of the harvest was unspecified.
367,892 fish escaped in rivers around the district yesterday, bringing this season’s spawners to 8.4 million so far.
The district’s total run is 23 million.
Nushagak River
Sockeye escapement up the Nushagak River was 149,546 yesterday, for a total of 4.3 million this season.
Daily Chinook escapement was a bit higher yesterday -- 2,094 Chinook swam up river, bringing the season’s total to 49,253 kings.
Chum numbers remained slower yesterday, as 6,208 chum escaped. The total escapement is now at 108,067.
Wood River
162,972 fish swam up the Wood River yesterday, and 48,834 more passed the tower as of 6 a.m. this morning. The Wood River’s total escapement is now 3.5 million.
Igushik River
Now to the Igushik -- 55,374 fish escaped yesterday, and another 4,914 passed the counting tower this morning. Total escapement there is at just above 556,020.
Togiak
The Togiak fleet harvested 13,000 fish, bringing cumulative catch to 111,784. There were an average of 359 sockeye per drift delivery yesterday.
In the Togiak River, around 4,350 fish escaped yesterday, and around 390 fish swam up river as of 6 a.m. this morning. The season’s total escapement is at 30,756.
Togiak’s total run is at 142,150.
Now we’ll take a look at the East Side.
Naknek-Kvichak
Total harvest in the Naknek-Kvichak is now nearing 5 million, as fishermen caught 739,000 fish yesterday. The average drift delivery was 1,000 sockeye yesterday.
The drift fleet has harvested 67% of the district’s total harvest, while Naknek set netters have hauled in 17% and Kvichak set netters have caught another 16%.
Escapement is now nearing 7.5 million; daily escapement in the Naknek-Kvichak was 912,012 fish.
The district’s total run is at 13 million.
Naknek River
Nearly 208,998 fish escaped past the Naknek counting towers yesterday, bringing the river’s total escapement to 2.2 million.
Kvichak River
Almost 400,000 swam up the Kvichak yesterday, bringing that total escapement to 3.2 million.
Around 700,000 fish are swimming up the river.
Alagnak River
In the Alagnak, around 305,682 fish swam up river yesterday, for a total of 2 million.
Egegik
The Egegik fleet hauled in 267,000 fish, for a total of 5.5 million this season. Yesterday, there was an average of 691 sockeye per drift delivery.
Drifters have harvested 83% of that cumulative catch, and set netters have caught 17%.
Around 81,630 fish escaped up the Egegik River yesterday, for a total escapement near 1.45 million.The in-river estimate for the area is 80,000.
The river’s total run is at 7 million.
Ugashik
Ugashik’s fishermen were back on the water yesterday, catching 138,000 fish. The average drift delivery remained strong with 959 fish per drift delivery. The season’s total harvest is almost 1.2 million.
Just over 42,000 fish swam up river bringing the season’s total escapement to 98,000. The in-river estimate for the Ugashik is 150,000.
Drifters have caught the vast majority of that total -- 91% -- while set netters have harvested around 9%.
Ugashik’s total run is 1.5 million.
Chignik Weir Counts
At the Chignik River Weir, 10,264 sockeye passed through the weir on July 10, and 426 more swam through the morning of July 11. The early run is at 217,605, and the late run is at 30,184.
48 Chinook swam through the weir yesterday. The total Chinook run is at just 213.
Area M
At Area M, fishermen harvested about 193,710 sockeye yesterday, for a season total of 4.8 million. Pink harvest was 15, that cumulative remains around 3.3 million. Yesterday’s chum harvest was 137 -- that total is around 863,000. Chinook harvest came to 23 bringing that total to 3,787.
Port Moller Test Fishery
At the Port Moller Test Fishery, weather conditions finally improved and stations 6-20 fished yesterday.
Looking at the catch indices by station:
Station 4 was not fished.
Station 6 caught 0 fish.
Station 8 caught 5 fish in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 2 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 25.
Station 10 caught 21 fish in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 19 in the 5 1/8, for a catch index of 114.
At Station 12, 10 fish were hauled in with the 4 1/2 inch mesh, and 0 were caught in the 5 1/8, bringing the catch index to 27.
Station 14 saw 4 fish in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 1 in the 5 1/8, for a catch index of 14.
Station 16 hauled in 10 fish in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 0 in the 5 1/8, for a catch index of 25.
Station 18 caught 4 in the 4 ½ inch mesh and 2 in the 5 ⅛, for a catch index of 14.
Station 20 saw 0 fish in the 4/12 inch mesh and 2 in the 5/18, for a catch index of 4.
Vessel registration Sunday July 11 9:00 a.m. to Tuesday July 13 9:00 a.m.
Boats will continue to move around the bay in the next few days. As of 9 a.m. this morning, there are 1,126 boats in the bay, 324 of those are D-boats. On Tuesday that will increase slightly with 1,330 boats, 400 of which will be D-boats.
The Naknek-Kvichak District will see a big jump in boats over the next 48 hours. There are 416 vessels registered to fish there, 108 of which are D-boats. That goes up to 562 on Tuesday-- 158 of those will be D-boats.
The Nushagak will continue on the downward trend. 332 vessels registered in the Nushagak District, 97 of those are D-boats. That will decrease a bit by Tuesday morning, with 320 boats registered, 94 of which will be D-boats.
Egegik’s fleet will also shrink a bit. There are currently 217 vessels, 64 of which are D-boats. On Tuesday morning, that total number will stay the same with 65 D-boats.
Ugashik’s fleet will see a bit of a boost again. It has 128 vessels, 55 of which are D-boats. In 48 hours, that will go up to 198 vessels, 83 of which will be D-boats.
Finally, Togiak’s fleet has 33 registered vessels through Tuesday.
We’re going to take a quick break. We’ll be right back on the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report.
Contact the fish team at fish@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.