The bay-wide harvest was 2 million yesterday. Egegik caught its biggest haul yet. The Nushagak District’s total run has surpassed its forecasted 10 million. And the Wood River Special Harvest Area opens to commercial set netters today.
The harvest across the bay yesterday was 2 million. The season total is now 16.8 million out of a pre-season forecast of 26.1 million fish available to harvest across all districts. The total run is now at 20.1 million, which is halfway to the forecasted 40.2 million.
At the Port Moller Test Fishery, yesterday's average daily index was 16. The index has fallen over the last six days, from a high of 63 on June 29. According to analysts, such a steady decline this late in the season suggests the run is winding down at the test fishery. Nevertheless, they are still predicting a total run of 45 to 50 million.
On the west side, Wood River escapement was 47,300 yesterday and 13,000 at 6:00 a.m. this morning for a cumulative of 1.13 million.
The Wood River Special Harvest Area closed to subsistence fishing at 1:00 p.m. It opens to commercial set netters from 4:00 p.m. today until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. According to Fish and Game, set netters there should only expect one short opening a day until escapement there picks up.
Harvest in the Nushagak District was 658,000 yesterday, for a cumulative of 8.6 million. The total run in the Nushagak is now at 10.2 million, exceeding its preseason forecast of 10 million fish.
Nushagak sockeye salmon escapement was 11,500 yesterday for a cumulative of 462,000. Nushagak king salmon escapement has picked up from its drop a few days ago; 779 kings were counted for a cumulative of 38,300. 14,200 chum escaped past the tower for a total of 282,800.
In the Igushik, 2,200 fish were counted by 6 a.m. this morning. That total is now 39,100.
And in Togiak, 834 fish escaped by 6 a.m. this morning for a total of 4,100.
Harvest there was 21,000 yesterday, for a total of 123,400. The run is now at 126,600, out of a forecasted 1.1 million.
On the east side, the Naknek-Kvichak harvest was 514,000 yesterday for a cumulative of 2.9 million. The drift fleet caught 75%, while set netters in Naknek caught 16%, and Kvichak set netters caught 9%. The total run is at 3.7 million, about a quarter of the forecasted 15.5 million.
Breaking it down by river, Naknek River escapement was 68,000 for a total of 787,000. The Kvichak River escapement was 6,000, with a cumulative of 48,000; and the Alagnak River escapement was 3,000 for a cumulative of 21,000. The Kvichak in-river estimate is 30,000.
Egegik had a tremendous day yesterday. The daily catch was 816,000. That's the highest so far this season, bringing the cumulative harvest to 5 million out of a forecasted available harvest of 7 million fish. Daily escapement was 66,000, for a total of 732,800. Egegik's total run is 5.79 million so far, out of a forecasted 8.7 million.
Ugashik also fished yesterday, bringing in 64,000 fish for a total of 173,900. Their available harvest was forecasted at 2.4 million fish. Escapement was 4,900 for a total of 26,500.
Escapement at the Chignik Weir is 4,700 today. Yesterday's total was 4,800, and the cumulative is now 238,205, still well below the minimum escapement for July 5 of 300,000.
The North Peninsula’s Area M has surpassed that of the South Peninsula, with a total sockeye harvest at 724,800. On the south side, that number is 622,100. The South Peninsula's pink harvest is still inching up from 8.4 million.
Catch this program nightly live at 6 p.m., with replays at 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. on AM 670, and online at KDLG.org. (With early broadcasts of the numbers Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.)
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Contact the author at isabelle@kdlg.org 907-842-2200.
