The numbers
Across the bay, fleets hauled in 2 million sockeye on July 2, for a total harvest of 20 million. Saturday’s escapement was 625,560. Total escapement is 6.5 million spawning salmon. Bristol Bay’s total run is just shy of 27 million fish, at 26,935,044.
Nushagak District
In the Nushagak District, harvest decreased on Saturday to 892,000 fish - with an average drift delivery of just 796 sockeye. The total harvest is now almost 10 million fish. The district’s total run is now about 14.7 million at 14,710,491.
Escapement in that district yesterday was 330,414 for a district-wide total of 4.8 million so far this season.
Nushagak River
On Saturday, 134,748 sockeye swam past the Nushagak River sonar. That brings the total to 2.5 million fish to date, at 2,568,502.
The sonar crew counted 198 Chinook on Saturday. The total escapement for kings up the Nushagak is 41,086.
And there was a surge of chum salmon - the sonar crew counted 6,528 chum swimming upriver, for a total of 73,414.
Wood River
In the Wood River, total sockeye returning have passed the two million mark now at 2,130,186. That run has now exceeded its upper escapement goal of 1.8 million. The tower crew counted 184,296 sockeye on Saturday and 34,008 fish as of 6 a.m. this morning.
Igushik River
The Igushik tower counted 11,370 on Saturday and another 6,078 as of 6 a.m. this morning. Igushik escapement is now 108,978 fish so far. The Igushik escapement goal is at least 150,000 fish.
Togiak
The Togiak fleet caught 4,600 fish on Saturday, for a total harvest of 20,215. The average delivery there was 207 sockeye. No escapement numbers from Togiak yet.
Naknek-Kvichak
The Naknek-Kvichak fleet had a drop in harvest Saturday too - harvest there was 395,000 fish for a total harvest of almost 2.9 million fish at 2,897,150. The average drift delivery was 783 fish. Escapement was 200,000 fish for a season total of 958,020.
Naknek River
The Naknek River crew counted 164,310 fish swim upriver on Saturday, for a total escapement of 611,118.
Kvichak River
Kvichak’s daily escapement was 15,528 for a total of 293,634. An estimated 200,000 fish are in the river.
Alagnak River
The Alagnak tower crew counted 19,600 (web: 19,614) fish escape on Saturday for a total of 53,268.
Egegik
The Egegik fleet harvested 498,000 fish on Saturday for a total of 6 million at 6,009,648. The average drift delivery was 942 sockeye. 54,078 swam past the counting tower, for a total escapement of 741,216.
An estimated 60,000 fish are in the river.
Fish and Game has said for about a week now that at this rate, Egegik’s run will likely pass the upper end escapement goal of 2 million.
The total run there is at 6,810,854 sockeye.
Ugashik
The Ugashik fleet hauled in 251,000 fish on Saturday, with an average delivery of 2,593 sockeye. The total harvest has now surpassed a million at 1,225,400. 41,600 fish escaped there, for a total of 62,904. An estimated 50,000 fish are in the river.
The total run there is now at 1.3 million sockeye.
Registrations: July 3 at 9 a.m. through July 5 at 9 a.m.
As of this morning, there were 887 permits registered in the Nushagak on 656 vessels. On Tuesday that will increase by just one at 888 permits on 657 boats. D boats are at 233, and that will stay the same through Tuesday.
In the Egegik District, fewer vessels there with 342 permits registered to 266 vessels. That number will increase slightly to 349 permits on Tuesday on 274 vessels. There are 76 Dboats, but will decrease by just one to 75 vessels on Tuesday.
Next, there are 296 permits in the Naknek-Kvichak registered to 256 vessels. By Tuesday that will increase to 316 permits on 272 vessels. There are 42 Dboats, and that number will rise to 46 Dboats on Tuesday.
The Ugashik District has 115 permits on 85 boats. Those will both increase on Tuesday to 148 permits and 112 boats. There are 30 Dboats, and that number will increase to 36 boats on Tuesday.
In Togiak, there are 30 permits on 30 boats, and no scheduled changes for Tuesday.
Chignik Weir
At the Chignik River, 25,696 sockeye passed through the weir on Saturday. 2,118 sockeye were counted by 9 a.m. on Sunday. Total sockeye escapement for the weir is at 263,660.
The minimum escapement goal there is 350,000 sockeye.
Fish and Game forecast a run of 1.2 million sockeye to the Chignik River watershed this season. The early run forecast is 639,000 and the late run is predicted to be 633,000.
The department projected harvests to be about 113,000 sockeye, 82,600 coho, 1.2 million pink, and 40,000 chum.
Area M
Fishing in Area M is currently closed. The next scheduled fishing is 6 a.m. Wednesday, July 6.
Port Moller Test Fishery
The test fishery crew analyzed 190 fish for the June 30 through July 1 stock composition estimate.
The largest percentage of the fish sampled were swimming to the Nushagak River – an estimated 28% were headed there. The estimate for the Kvichak is about 26%. An estimated 23% of the samplings were on their way to the Wood. About 10% were swimming to the Egegik. 8% are swimming to the Ugashik, 3% to the Alagnak, and 1% to the Naknek. Less than 1% to the North Peninsula, Igushik, Togiak and Kuskokwim rivers.
North Peninsula 0.4%
Ugashik 8.0%
Egegik 9.8%
Naknek 1%
Alagnak 2.9%
Kvichak 25.8%
Nushagak 28.1%
Wood 23.4%
Igushik 0.3%
Togiak 0.1%
Kuskokwim 0.3%
Catches from July 2
The Daily Catch Index continues to rise after four days of abysmal numbers last week. Technicians say the inner stations are starting to catch fish once again and the run is in line with their expectations.
Station 1, 8, 12 and 22 caught 0 fish.
Station 2 caught 3 fish in the 4 ½ mesh and 0 in the 5 ⅛. The index is 8.
Station 4 caught 11 fish in the 4 ½ mesh and 4 in the 5 ⅛. The index is 36.
Station 6 caught 13 fish in the 4 ½ inch and 13 in the 5 ⅛. The index is 62.
Station 10 caught 1 fish in the 4 ½ and 0 in the 5 ⅛. That index is 2.
Station 14 caught 10 fish in the 4 ½ and 1 in the 5 ⅛. That index is 25.
Station 16 caught 88 fish in the 4 ½ and 82 in the 5 ⅛, for an index of 237.
Station 17 caught 26 in the 4 ½ and 4 in the 5 ⅛. That index is 86.
Station 18 caught 30 in the 4 ½ and 36 in the 5 ⅛. That index is 141.
Station 20 caught 6 in the 4 ½ and 0 in the 5 ⅛. That index is 17.
If you’d like to get your message out to the fleet on this show, send it over in an email … to fish@kdlg.org. If you’d like to get in touch about anything else, give us a call at 842-2200 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org.
