OBI Seafoods releases statement on the death of Lance Norby, Capt. of F/V Pneuma
On Thursday morning, rough waters on Nushagak Bay pushed the F/V Pneuma onto a sandbar and waves washed all three crew members overboard.
State Troopers, Coast Guard and Good Samaritan vessels were on the scene and two crew members survived. The third crew member, Captain Lance Norby, died despite resuscitation efforts.
Norby fished for OBI Seafoods. It was his second year fishing for the processor. In a statement released Friday, OBI offered condolences to family and friends of Lance Norby.
The company noted that Norby purchased the F/V Barbarian out of Egegik and renamed it Pneuma to fish in the Nushagak District.
OBI also extends wishes of speedy recovery to the other crew members.
Some of the vessels who responded to the F/V Pneuma’s calls included the F/V Fortress, as well as the tenders Provider Trident-owned Last Frontier. OBI especially thanked Captain Cam Chriswell who “Stopped everything in the middle of the largest Nushagak harvest day ever to rescue the Pneuma crew.”
Erosion in Ekuk
Each summer, the small Bristol Bay fishing village of Ekuk swells with set net fishers ready to tap the bountiful run.
Ekuk operates differently than other set net beaches in the bay; fishers rely on trucks to carry their catch to the local processor. As fishing in the village evolved with technology and product demands, so has the coastline. Rapid erosion threatens structures and setnet sites across the beach.
KDLG’s Tyler Thompson met with folks in Ekuk and has the story
NOAA "Women in the Fisheries"
In 2017, social scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrived in Bristol Bay to interview and record native women fishermen.
The goal of the project was simple: to tell the stories of women in the commercial and subsistence fisheries, while communicating their critical importance to sustaining fisheries and the communities who depend on them in Bristol Bay.
NOAA Portrait #1
Harmony Wayner, Rhonda Wayner and Betty Bonin. The interview was recorded in Naknek in the summer of 2017. Edited by Martina Lancia.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project and for allowing KDLG to rebroadcast the portraits on the 2021 Fish Report. NOAA Principle Investigators: Anna Lavoie, Kim Sparks, Jean Lee, Sarah Wise. Molly Graham, Project Manager of Voices Oral Histories Archives, NOAA. Galen Koch and her students Maine College of Art, "Working With Archives: Oral History to Audio Short Inbox."
Messages to the Fleet
To the guys over on the F/V Seahag: hang in there fellas!! Your girls love and miss you so much Jonny. Keep our dad-man safe Luke. And uncle Ryan: Erin and the fam say hi. We are all so proud of you guys. Love, Tay
For the captain of the linda K:
From your girls on the white sandy beaches of the island of Crete (in Greece) surrounded by deep blue warm waters.May the Greek goddesses send you many boat loads of fish on this very special day.
We would call but one of the goddesses lost her phone don't worry bail money not needed (laughing and giggling) though, she'll meet at home port with lots of hugs and kisses. Happy Birthday Cap.
Please tell Walter Disarro from the Egegik fishing district that his California Girl from Tennessee misses him tremendously & is counting down the days until his return to the Monterey Bay.
Nushagak District
The Nushagak District hauled in 1.12 million sockeye yesterday bringing the season total to 8.4 million. Yesterday’s escapement came to 444,000 for a season total of 5.7 million.
The drift fleet in the district has harvested 82% of the season’s cumulative catch, while Nushagak set netters have caught 11% and Igushik set netters hauled in around 2%.
Nushagak River
In the Nushagak River, sockeye escapement is slowing. Only 170,784 fish escaped yesterday. That brings the season total to about 3,169,490 million.
The Chinook run was down as well. Only 107 swam through, and the total is still about 36,783.
The chum run has dropped significantly again; only 290 fish passed the counting tower, bringing that species’ total escapement to just under 63,757.
Wood River
Escapement up the Wood River plateaued and was around 226,392, and another 29,172 passed through this morning, bringing the Wood River total to about 2.1 million.
Igushik River
The Igushik River had a decent bump in escapement, 47,034 fish swam up yesterday, and another 10,518 swam up as of 6 a.m. this morning, bringing the total to 228,900.
Togiak
Togiak didn’t fish yesterday, leaving that season total at about 29,000.
The counting crew is now in Togiak and began counting today. They will likely begin sending escapement numbers tomorrow.
Naknek-Kvichak
Harvest in the Naknek-Kvichak District declined somewhat with 145,000 fish yesterday. The total harvest there is now at 1.3 million salmon.
Of that cumulative harvest, the district’s drift fleet caught about 52%, Naknek set netters harvested around 22%, and Kvichak set netters caught the remaining 25%.
Total escapement yesterday saw an uptick with 536,000 fish swimming upriver bringing that total to 1.4 million.
Naknek River
The Naknek River saw164,000 fish escape. The total escapement is now 780,000 salmon.
Kvichak River
The Kvichak River also saw a large increase in escapement with 193,000 fish bringing that total to 417,000. The in-river estimate for the Kvichak River is 400,000.
Alagnak River
Numbers are on the rise on the Alagnak River with 178,000 fish escaping, bringing that river’s total to 257,000.
Egegik
Egegik district harvest was also up a bit -- 419,000 fish were caught yesterday, bringing the total catch to 3.34 million.
The drift fleet has harvested around 83% of the season’s total harvest, while set netters have hauled in 17%. 86,000 fish swam up the river bringing Egegik’s total escapement to 864,000.
The total run for the Egegik District is slightly above 4.3 million.
Ugashik
Ugashik fishermen didn’t harvest any fish yesterday.
Chignik Weir Counts
Yesterday, 3,305 sockeye fish passed through the weir. As of 9 am this morning, 138 more swam by. This brings total sockeye escapement to 201,641. Six Chinook swam by bringing the season total to 31.
The early season run is around 187,414 sockeye and the late run is at 14,000 sockeye.
Area M
Area M commercial salmon fishery is currently closed along portions of the South Peninsula until 6 a.m. July 6. Total harvest 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. Genetic samples from July 2-3 will travel to Anchorage on Tuesday. Now for the catch indices.
Stations 2 and 6 caught zero fish.
Station 4 caught 1 fish in the 4 ½ inch mesh and 0 in the 5 1/8. The catch index was 4.
Station 8 caught 34 fish in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 20 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 130.
Station 10 caught 47 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 17 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 202.
Station 12 caught 4 fish in the 4 ½ inch mesh and 1 in the 5 1/8. The catch index was 16.
Station 14 caught 4 fish in the 4 ½ inch mesh and 0 in the 5 1/8. The catch index was 10.
Station 16 caught 14 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 29 in the 5 1/8. The catch index is 112.
Station 18 caught 8 in the 14 1/2 inch mesh and 1 in the 5 1/8. It had a catch index of 38.
Station 20 caught 8 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 12 in the 5 1/8. It had a catch index of 55.
Station 22 caught 18 in the 4 1/2 inch mesh and 0 in the 5 1/8. It had a catch index of 37.
The latest age composition estimates are also in and available on our website under BBFR #14.
Vessel registration Monday July 5 9:00 a.m. to Wednesday July 7 9:00 a.m.
Nushagak District has fewer boats -- there are now 566 boats registered in the district, 181 of which are D-boats. That ups to 568 boats, while D-boats sit at 181.
Next up is Egegik, where 297 boats are registered, 91 of which are D-boats. Both numbers hold on Wednesday
In the Naknek-Kvichak, boat registrations are up to 316 -- 69 of those are D-boats. On Wednesday, those numbers go up to 331 boats, 79 of which are D-boats.
In Ugashik, there are 96 boats registered, and 44 of those are D-boats. A slight increase there on Wednesday, with 102 vessels, 49 of which are D-boats.
Finally, there are 30 boats registered in Togiak. That fleet will stay the same on Wednesday.
Correction: The F/V Pneuma sank on Thursday, July 1, not Wed., June 30 as originally reported.
Contact the fish team at fish@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.