Get in touch and share some perspective — give us a call 907-842-2200 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org. If you’d like to get a message out to the fleet on this show, send your messages to the fleet to fish@kdlg.org.
How Alaska's secret wild salmon prices hurt everybody, with Intrafish editor John Fiorillo
Fishermen are frustrated and outraged at a potential dramatic price drop this season. Though no official base price has been announced, there are signs it could be as low as 50 cents per pound. KDLG's Corinne Smith peak with Intrafish journalist John Fiorillo who argues Alaska’s secret salmon prices hurt everybody.
Nushagak king action plan explained, part two
This spring, the Board of Fisheries took action to protect Chinook or King salmon in the Nushagak. Today, we dive into part two of a two-part explainer on the state’s Nushagak King action plan, and what it means for the run and for commercial fishing. To listen or read part one, check out the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report for Monday June 19, at kdlg.org.
In part one, KDLG's Jack Darrell talked with Tim Sands, area management biologist for the Nushagak about the delayed opener to allow for more Kings, or sockeye to escape. That starting pistol for the commercial fishery is 420,000 sockeye swimming past the Nushagak sonar, 800,000 past the Wood River tower, or a hard start of fishing in the district on June 28th. But the Board of Fisheries also enacted changes to escapement goals as part of the Nushagak king action plan.
Weather Wednesday
This summer, we’re going to take a few minutes each Wednesday to check in with Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks center for climate assessment and policy, in a segment called Weather Wednesday!
Today KDLG’s Jessie Sheldon talked to Thoman about this week's forecast, and what’s behind this year’s late spring.
Messages to the fleet
There are no messages to the fleet tonight, but if you’d like to get a message out give us a call 842-5281 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org
Poetry
Blessing the Boats
by Lucille Clifton
(at St. Mary's)
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
The numbers
Nushagak River
Though counts have been trending higher this week, yesterday was slow for fish up the Nushagak.
At the Nushagak River sonar, only 1,288 sockeye passed on Tuesday for a total of 21,680 up the river so far.
The Nushagak River is forecasted to see 16.7 million sockeye return this year.
Only 13 Chinook passed for a total of 10,177 so far this season.
And 668 chum salmon passed the sonar, for a total of 11,929.
Wood River
Just 966 sockeye passed the Wood River counting tower yesterday - a much slower run than this time last year. Another 180 fish swam up as of 6 a.m. this morning
About 8 million sockeye are expected to return to the Wood.
Naknek River
Commercial fishing has picked up somewhat on the Naknek and Kvichak Rivers and fishermen have caught a total of 8,364 fish to date. 6,796 of those were caught on Tuesday. There are no escapement numbers to report yet.
The Naknek is forecasted to see 6.5 million sockeye run, and the Kvichak is expecting to see over 8 million fish. Alagnak numbers will start to come in next week. The Alagnak is forecasted to get around 4.2 million.
Egegik
In Egegik, fishermen have caught a total of 107,696 sockeye as of June 20. The season’s escapement is at 15,066 fish. The season’s escapement goal is over 800,000.
Fish and Game says Egegik tower operations began on Saturday June 17, and data from the in-river test fishery shows passage rates are low.
Egegik is expected to see around 11 million sockeye.
Ugashik
Fishermen in Ugashik hauled in 14,1124 fish yesterday for a total catch of 17,926.
No counts from the Igushik or Togiak towers yet. The Igushik’s forecasted return is larger this year at about 3.35 million sockeye. Togiak’s forecast is an estimated 700,000 sockeye.
Vessel Registrations
In Egegik, there are 322 permits on 232 boats. That number will increase to 360 permits on 265 boats by Friday. DBoats will go from 90 to 95.
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 85 permits, up to 92 in the next two days. The number of vessels is 73 and the number of DBoats is 12, adding one more by Friday
The Nushagak District has just 23 permits now, which will not change in the next 48 hours. The number of vessels will also stand 20, and 3 DBoats.
The Togiak District has 9 permits on 9 boats, and that will stay the same by Friday.
The Ugashik District has 75 permits, and will grow to 92 permits by Friday. The number of vessels is 73, and will bump up slightly to 79, and Dboats from 12 to 13 by Friday.
Chignik River weir
8,410 sockeye swam through the weir yesterday, for a total of 72,856.
An estimated 8,200 fish were part of the early run, and almost 200 fish part of the late run.
The Chigniks total escapement goal is 470,000 to 800,000.
Area M
In Area M, fishing fleets harvested almost 38,938 sockeye on Tuesday for a total of just over 588,040.
154 Chinook were harvested yesterday for a total of around 1,019, pink harvest was at 67,640 fish total, chum were at 96,433, and coho were at just 19 fish.
A majority of those fish were caught on the South Peninsula, with the South Unimak and Shumagin Islands fleets hauling in 572,029 sockeye and 847 Chinook so far.
The Dolgoi island area have caught 1,815 sockeye total so far.
In the North Peninsula, around 14,196 sockeye and 172 chinooks were harvested by fleets in Nelson Lagoon and Port Heiden.
Port Moller Test Fishery
Crews reported calm seas and clear weather on Tuesday. Though the Daily Catch Index fell off quite a bit, they also reported more fish towards the bottom of the net, meaning fish may be passing beneath the net, and catchability was simply lower than yesterday.
No fish were caught at Stations 2, 12, or 18.
At the following test fishery stations, the smaller mesh size is 4 ½ inch and the larger mesh size is 5 ⅛.
Station 4 caught 2 fish in the small net and 26 fish in the big net. That catch index is 62.
Station 6 caught 18 fish in the small net and 11 fish in the big net.That catch index is 62.
Station 8 caught 7 fish in the small net and 28 fish in the big net. That catch index is 75.
Station 10 caught 2 fish in the small net and 9 fish in the big net. That catch index is 22.
Station 14 caught 2 fish in the small net for a catch index of 5.
Station 16 caught 1 fish in the small net for a catch index of 2
Get in touch at fish@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
