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.
Crews look forward to the season
KDLG's Jack Darrell spoke with fishing crews in the PAF boatyard in Dillingham, including Ethan Larson of CA and Aiden Kellygoss and of South Carolina.
And Jacob Radon and Tyler Barton share perspective on the upcoming season and favorite gear.
Messages to the Fleet
This is for Michael Antonso, who is working aboard a tender with Trident, please call your sister Julie Antonso as soon as possible. Or if the captain or crew hear this message, please tell Michael to call Julie right away. Thank you.
The numbers
The bay-wide daily catch is just over 142,697 fish on Friday with the most fish caught in Egegik. The total run was 1,280,697 Friday, and escapement yesterday was at 167,674.
At the Nushagak River sonar, 72,076 sockeye passed on Friday for a total of 198,580 up the river so far.
And, a minor correction from past Fisheries Reports this week - it’s the three rivers of the Nushagak District that are forecasted to see an estimated 16.7 million sockeye return this year - not just the Nushagak River. That river is forecast to see 6.95 million fish return. Thanks to the listener that wrote in with that correction!
Just 21 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar tower for a total of 10,698 so far this season.
And 1,342 chum salmon passed the sonar, for a total of 15,200.
Wood River
88,602 sockeye passed the Wood River counting tower Friday. Another 15,030 fish swam up as of 6 a.m. this morning
About 8 million sockeye are expected to return to the Wood.
Igushik
No escapement counts from the Igushik or Togiak towers yet. The Igushik Tower crew went out on Thursday and will be setting up the towers Friday and counting by Saturday.
The Igushik’s forecasted return is larger this year at about 3.35 million sockeye.
Togiak
Fishermen in Togiak caught just 231 fish yesterday for a total catch of 2,242.
Togiak’s forecast is an estimated 700,000 sockeye, and about 500,000 for harvest.
Naknek-Kvichak
In the Naknek and Kvichak Rivers runs slowed quite a bit yesterday, with fishermen catching just 90 fish Friday for a total of 12,486 fish to date. This season’s total escapement is just 360 fish. 72 of those fish swam upstream yesterday.
The Naknek is forecasted to see a 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
Egegik fishing crews had a slower day Friday than the day before, but harvested almost 139,580 fish for a total of 727,977 this season. Yesterday, another 6,924 fish swam upstream, bringing the season’s total escapement to 63,426 fish. The season’s escapement goal is over 800,000.
Egegik is expected to see around 11 million sockeye.
Ugashik
Ugashik fleets had a slower day as well - harvesting just 2,796 fish yesterday for a total catch of 63,518.
Vessel Registrations
As of noon Saturday, in Egegik, there are 431 permits on 329 boats. That number will increase to 440 permits on 336 boats by Monday. DBoats will go from 102 to 104 in the next 48 hours.
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 128 permits on 115 boats and the number of DBoats is 13. That will increase slightly to 133 permits on 119 boats by Monday, and 14 DBoats.
In the Nushagak District there are 170 permits now, on 131 boats. In the next 2 days, this will more than double to 351 permits on 261 boats. DBoats will increase from 39 to 90.
The Togiak District has 14 permits on 14 boats, and that will stay the same through Monday.
The Ugashik District has stayed the same, with 45 permits on 35 boats, which will also decrease slightly to 42 permits on 34 boats in the next 2 days. There are 10 DBoats, dropping to 8 DBoats by Monday.
Chignik River Weir
There are no new numbers to report from the Chignik River weir today, but for Thursday a total of 96,200 [96,198] had escaped there.
The Chigniks total escapement goal is 470,000 to 800,000.
Area M
In Area M, North and South Peninsula fleets harvested 42,862 fish on Friday for a total of 809,001 this season.
131 Chinook were harvested yesterday, and 297 chum.
A majority of those fish have been caught on the South Peninsula, with the South Unimak and Shumagin Islands fleets with season catch now at 735,903.
In the North Peninsula, around 115,716 sockeye and 693 chinook have been harvested this season by fleets in Nelson Lagoon and Port Heiden.
Port Moller Test Fishery
The next stock composition analysis for the Port Moller Test Fishery will be out on Sunday. That’s for fish during the last two days, June 23 - June 24.
For Port Moller catches on Friday June 23, no fish were caught at Station 2, 14, or 20.
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 48 fish in the small net and 25 fish in the big net. That catch index is 162.
Station 6 caught 20 fish in the small net and 11 fish in the big net. That catch index is 69.
Station 8 caught 13 fish in the small net and 35 fish in the big net. That catch index is 103.
Station 10 caught 27 fish in the small net and 25 fish in the big net. That catch index is 108.
Station 12 caught 39 fish in the small net and 42 fish in the big net. That catch index is 162.
Station 16 caught 1 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 5.
Station 18 caught 0 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Station 22 caught 3 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 8.
Station 24 caught 0 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
We wrap the show with an original song by Dillingham musician and retired school teacher Teresa Duncan, called "Out."
Get in touch with the fisheries report team at fish@kdlg.org.
(Correction: this report previously mistated the total harvest numbers for Area M as daily catches. It's been updated with correct harvest and season totals.)
