Across the bay, the total run is just under 2 million fish -- half of those are in the Nushagak. Registration numbers are going up in the Naknek-Kvichak. We also have an update on COVID-19 cases.
COVID-19 update
Stay up-to-date on the lates news about COVID-19 in Bristol Bay with KDLG's COVID-19 page
One new case of COVID-19 was reported in Dillingham on June 27. The person who tested positive is a seafood worker and a close contact of the 12 OBI Seafoods cases announced on June 22, and it was identified as part of their employer's quarantine and testing protocol, according to the City of Dillingham. The company tested all workers before they travelled to Dillingham, and then twice during quarantine. The city said that all workers who tested positive were asymptomatic when they were tested, and are currently being treated by the company medic.
The person has been moved into separate isolation facilities within their company's closed campus, and contact tracing has begun. The city also said the company is putting additional sanitation protocols in place.
Nushagak District
The run in the Nushagak District has reached 1 million. That’s half of the total run across the bay, which is 1.9 million. The fleet in the Nushagak District hauled in 165,000 fish yesterday. There were about 200 sockeye per drift delivery. That brings the total to 502,700 so far this season.
Breaking that down by fishing effort, the drift fleet has harvested 64%, Nushagak set netters have harvested 27%, and Igushik set netters have harvested 8%. The reported king salmon harvest was 535 for a cumulative of 2,800.
Escapement across the district was 66,640 yesterday, for a cumulative escapement of 538,700.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 27,200 sockeye yesterday. Total escapement there is just under 270,000. It counted 2,060 chinook for a total king escapement of 27,200 so far this season. And 3,400 chum passed, for a cumulative escapement of 30,200 in the Nushagak.
Wood River
The Wood River tower counted 14,500 fish as of 6 a.m. this morning. Daily escapement yesterday was 38,300. The total is now almost 272,000.
Igushik River
Over in the Igushik, the crew counted 2,150 fish as of 6 a.m. this morning. Daily escapement yesterday was 1,130. So far this season, 13,600 fish have escaped up the Igushik.
Togiak
No daily catch from Togiak. The total harvest is at 914 there.
Over to the east side now...
Naknek-Kvichak
After a relatively big haul on Friday, the Naknek-Kvichak’s catch yesterday was 22,000 fish. The total this season stands at 259,700. It averaged 44 sockeye per drift delivery. Total harvest from the district is now 259,700. The district’s drift fleet caught about 70% of that. Naknek set netters caught 24%, and Kvichak set netters caught 7%.
Escapement across the district yesterday was at 33,600. That brings the total escapement to 105,800.
Naknek River
In the Naknek River, 33,500 fish escaped yesterday for a total of 105,500.
Kvichak River
Over in the Kvichak, just over 100 fish escaped yesterday, bringing that total to 380.
No escapement numbers from Alagnak yet.
Egegik
No harvest numbers from Egegik yesterday. The cumulative catch there is at 350,000. Drifters caught 87% and set netters caught 13%.
Escapement yesterday was 9,600, for a total escapement of 144,000. The in-river estimate is 20,000. The total run in Egegik is now 514,000.
Ugashik
No daily catch numbers from Ugashik. The total harvest there is at 9,000. The drift fleet caught 60% of that, and set netters caught 40%.
The first escapement numbers are in from Ugashik -- yesterday 996 fish went upriver there. The in-river estimate is 15,000, and the total run is now 25,000
Chignik
At the Chignik weir, 4,152 sockeye passed through yesterday. 6 chinook passed, and 6 pinks passed.
As of 9 a.m. no sockeye have passed the weir. No chinook had passed either.
The total sockeye run so far is at 59,612 this season. The chinook run stands at 48.
At this point in 2018, the sockeye run was at around 89,000 sockeye. While this year’s total run is about 30,000 lower than in 2018, the late run is higher -- 1,575. The early run is at 58,037.
Area M
Due to limited participation, the South Peninsula harvest data from yesterday are confidential and was not included in the harvest report today. As it stands, the fleet has hauled in 1.6 million pinks to date. The sockeye catch is at 311,000, the chinook harvest is at 2,630. Chum are at 451,600, and the coho catch is just 243.
The set net, drift, and seine fleets there are currently in the middle of a multi-day opener that started Thursday morning and ends at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Permit registration on June 28 9:00 a.m. to June 30 at 9:00 a.m.
A total of 1,538 permits are fishing on 1,196 vessels as of 9 a.m. this morning. 342 of those are D boats. Those numbers go up to 1,603 permits on 1,243 vessels at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. There will be 359 D boats across the bay.
The majority of permits are still in the Nushagak. The district has 43% of total permits across the bay -- 671 permits are on 512 vessels -- 158 of those are D Boats. Those numbers go up a bit on Tuesday at 9 a.m. The district will have 674 permits on 514 vessels. There will be one more D boat, bringing the count to 159.
A quarter of the total permits are in Egegik, where 409 permits are fishing on 318 vessels, 91 of those are D boats. On Tuesday at 9 a.m. those numbers go up 424 permits on 332 vessels. There will be one more D boat on Tuesday, bringing it to 92.
The Naknek-Kvichak doesn’t have the most permits or vessels -- about a quarter of the fleet is fishing there. But it is seeing the biggest increase on Tuesday. There are 393 permits on 309 vessels in the district. The permit numbers goes up by 47, to 440 permits. The number of boats goes up by 31, bringing Tuesday’s boat count to 340. The number of D boats goes up pretty substantially as well, from the current 84 to 100 on D boats.
In Togiak, there are 34 permits on 34 vessels, and those numbers stay the same on Tuesday.
Wrapping things up in Ugashik, there are 31 permits on 23 boats, 8 of which are D boats. Those numbers stay the same on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Port Moller
No stations were fished at the Port Moller Test Fishery yesterday. The Ocean Cat returned from Station 8 to Port Moller overnight for a medical. Vessel personnel between the two boats have been adjusted, and the two boats are ready to fish at the first opportunity when weather permits. As of yesterday evening, the boats were pinned down near Port Moller, with measured winds of over 30 knots on the back deck. Conditions near Port Moller improved overnight and into the morning, but offshore conditions are forecast to deteriorate after noon (“After all, it is 2020,” Raborn writes). The crews are attempting to fish as many stations as possible today.
PMTF Stock Composition Status: No samples have been collected since the ones for which results were released yesterday (6/24-25). The earliest samples would come ashore Monday or Tuesday, and be analyzed mid-week.
Port Moller released ADF&G’s third stock composition estimate from June 24 - 25. It sampled 750 fish from stations 4 - 22.
Stock Composition (24-25 June; Stations 4-22):
The majority of the fish from the sampled stock are headed to Egegik, at around 35%. 22% are heading to the Naknek. 19% to the Wood River, 12% are going to the Nushagak. 6% are going to the Kvichak is 6%, and 1% are heading to Ugashik.
Stock %
Kuskokwim 2.5%
Togiak 0.3%
Igushik 2.0%
Wood 18.7%
Nushagak 11.5%
Kvichak 6.4%
Alagnak 0.3%
Naknek 21.9%
Egegik 34.5%
Ugashik 0.9%
North Pen. 1.1%
