Messages to the fleet
Two birthday wishes out to Virgil Delkittie at Big Creek! One from your sister Virginia and the other is from Julie, Chris, and the kids.
Julie, Chris and the kids also wanted to wish Mary Delkittie and crew a happy fourth of July and happy fishing.
We also have a message to Captain Mike “Fishhead” Fourtner and crew on the F/V Bonnie B. They say another Independence Day fishing the bay and thinking “salmon fireworks” are more awe inspiring in their own special way. They hope you’re earning your share and keeping the tenders happy. From a friend in far-away Charleston, South Carolina.
The Numbers
The bay-wide run is now over 19.5 million sockeye. Almost 1.2 million fish escaped yesterday, for a total of 6.9 million. Daily catch was a bit over 1.4 million for a total harvest of 11.9 million fish so far this season.
Nushagak District
The Nushagak District hauled in 710,000 sockeye yesterday with an average of 580 sockeye per drift delivery.
Escapement was up to 767,978 for a season total of 5,247,812.
The drift fleet has harvested 82% of the season’s cumulative catch, while Nushagak set netters have caught 12% and Igushik set netters hauled in around 2%.
Nushagak River
In the Nushagak River, 485,450 sockeye escaped yesterday. That brings the season total to about 2,998,706.
The Chinook run was 3,280, and the total is at 36,676.
The chum run is up from yesterday again, 6,412 fish passed the counting tower, bringing that species’ total escapement to 63,467.
Wood River
Escapement up the Wood River was up yesterday to 258,936, and another 34,812 passed through this morning, bringing the Wood River total to about 2.1 million.
Igushik River
23,592 fish ran up the Igushik River yesterday, and another 7,164 swam up as of 6 a.m. this morning, bringing the total to 178,512.
Togiak
Togiak’s catch was up to 6,800 fish bringing that season total to 23,268.
The counting crew made it to Togiak yesterday and will begin counting escapement by tomorrow.
Now for a look on the East Side:
Naknek-Kvichak
Harvest in the Naknek-Kvichak District got a boost — the fleet caught 277,000 fish yesterday, with an average of 234 sockeye per drift delivery. The total harvest there is now over at 1,172,230 salmon.
Of that cumulative harvest, the district’s drift fleet caught about 54%, Naknek set netters harvested around 23%, and Kvichak set netters caught the remaining 23%.
Total escapement yesterday was up quite a bit to 351,162 fish swam through bringing that total to 918,102.
Naknek River
The Naknek River had a big push of 277,410 fish escaping. The total escapement is now 616,038 salmon.
Kvichak River
The Kvichak River also saw a rise in escapement of 47,826 fish bringing that total to 223,458. The in-river estimate for the Kvichak River is 500,000.
Alagnak River
And we finally have numbers for the Alagnak. About 25,926 fish swam up the Alagnak, bringing that river’s total to 78,606.
Egegik
Egegik district harvest was also up a bit - 261,000 fish were caught yesterday, and an average of 440 sockeye per drift delivery, bringing the total catch to 2.93 million.
The drift fleet has harvested around 84.5% of the season’s total harvest, while set netters have hauled in 15.5%.
37,662 swam upriver bringing Egegik’s total escapement to 778,302.
The total run for the Egegik District is nearing 3.8 million.
Ugashik
Ugashik fishermen harvested 149,000 fish yesterday, bringing the total catch to 543,635.
The drift fleet has caught 94% of the district’s cumulative harvest, and set netters caught 6%.
3,126 fish escaped in the Ugashik for a total of 29,148. The total run in the district this season is 580,783.
Chignik Weir Counts
Yesterday, 7,167 sockeye fish passed through the weir. This brings the season total escapement to 198,198.
The early season run is around 184,717 sockeye and the late run is at 13,481 sockeye.
Area M
The Area M commercial salmon fishery is currently closed until 6 a.m. July 6. Total harvest as of yesterday remains around 7.5 million.
Broken into species, a total of nearly 2,946 Chinook have been caught, sockeye total harvest sits at 3.5 million, coho harvest sits at 2,593 fish, pink totals are at 3.2 million, and chum harvest is at 801,761.
Port Moller Test Fishery
Here’s today’s update out of the Port Moller Test Fishery. Researchers say catch indices have dropped since June 29th. They claim it’s unlikely the run was early but the lack of information from June 30 and July 1st make it difficult to make a conclusion.
Stations 12 and 14 caught zero fish.
Station 2 caught 0 fish in the 4 ½ inch mesh and 7 in the 5 1/8. The catch index was 22.
Station 4 caught 1 fish in the 4 ½ inch mesh and 1 in the 5 1/8. The catch index was 7.
Station 6 caught 1 in the 3 1/2-inch mesh and 2 in the 5 1/8. The catch index was 15.
Station 8 caught 22 fish in the 4 1/2-inch mesh and 19 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 272.
Station 10 caught 7 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 35 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 120.
Station 16 caught 2 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 8 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 23.
Station 18 caught 8 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 20 in the 5 1/8. It had a catch index of 67.
Station 20 caught 8 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 5 in the 5 1/8. It had a catch index of 32.
Station 22 caught 2 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 0 in the 5 1/8. It had a catch index of 4.
The latest age composition estimates are also in and available on our website under BBFR #14.
Vessel registration Sunday July 4 9:00 a.m. to Tuesday July 6 9:00 a.m.
Nushagak District seems to be growing a bit -- there are now 551 boats registered in the district, 177 of which are D-boats. That increases Tuesday to 565 boats, 180 of which are D-boats.
Next up is Egegik, where 302 boats are registered, 94 of which are D-boats. That goes up a bit on Tuesday, with 303 boats -- D-boats stay at 94.
In the Naknek-Kvichak, boat registrations are up to 308 -- 66 of those are D-boats. On Tuesday, those numbers go up to 325 boats, 76 of which are D-boats.
In Ugashik, there are 90 boats registered, and 44 of those are D-boats. A slight increase there on Tuesday, with 92 vessels, 49 of which are D-boats.
There are 30 boats registered in Togiak. That fleet will stay the same through Tuesday.