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.
Messages to the Fleet
To Elijah, Tyler and Joey: We hope you have a safe and prosperous season!! Elijah, we love and miss you, and are so proud of you and the new boat!!! Ethan says he loves you Daddy, and we can’t wait to have you home!
Love,
Jennifer
To Capt. Doug Morgan, F/V Miss Emma: Doug, sorry but your lawn looks like a shooting gallery. Timmy shot up all the Pink Flamingos and blasted your Garden Gnome into dust. Even put holes in the Slip and Slide. Gonna be another tough 4th of July.
-Capt. Zip tie
Again, an urgent message 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 slowed Saturday with 13,821 fish harvested, and all of those caught in the Naknek-Kvichak district. The total run was 1,449,105 Saturday, and escapement yesterday was at 614,061.
At the Nushagak River sonar, 62,825 sockeye passed on Saturday for a total of 261,405 fish up the river so far.
2,022 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar tower for a total of 12,720 so far this season.
And 16,944 chum salmon passed the sonar, for a total of 32,144.
Wood River
87,456 sockeye passed the Wood River counting tower Saturday. Another 15,972 fish swam up as of 6 a.m. this morning, for a total escapement count of 279,594.
About 8 million sockeye are expected to return to the Wood.
Igushik River
The Igushik counting tower is now active, with crews there counting 48 sockeye on Saturday and 3,522 as of 6 am this morning.
Togiak
Fishing crews in Togiak caught just zero 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 picked up a bit Saturday with fishermen catching 13,821 fish yesterday for a total of 26,307 fish to date. This season’s total escapement is just 492 fish. 132 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 caught zero fish yesterday, and the total is 727,977 this season. Yesterday, another 9,126 fish swam upstream, bringing the season’s total escapement to 72,552 fish. The season’s escapement goal is over 800,000.
The total run is now at 815,529 fish, and Egegik is expected to see around 11 million sockeye.
Ugashik
Ugashik fleets caught zero fish Saturday. The season total is 63,518 fish harvest, escapement is at zero, and the total run is at 63,518.
Vessel Registrations
As of noon Sunday, in Egegik, there are 413 permits on 317 boats. That number will increase slightly to 418 permits on 322 boats by Tuesday. DBoats stay the same at 96 boats.
The Ugashik District has 46 permits on 37 boats, which will also increase slightly to 48 permits on 38 boats in the next 2 days. There are 9 DBoats, increasing to 10 DBoats by Tuesday
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 140 permits on 125 boats. That will increase slightly to 146 permits on 131 boats by Tuesday, and DBoats will stay the same at 15.
In the Nushagak, there are 305 permits on 227 boats. In the next 2 days, that will jump to 514 permits on 371 boats. DBoats will increase from 78 to 143.
The Togiak District has 14 permits on 14 boats, and that will stay the same through Tuesday.
Chignik Weir Counts
At the Chignik River Weir, 15,840 sockeye swam through the weir yesterday, for a total of 121,259 fish to date. 15,141 were part of the Early Run and 699 fish were part of the late run there.
For other species, only 7 dolly varden were counted at the weir, for a total of 48 dollies to date.
Area M -
In Area M, North and South Peninsula fleets harvested 42,434 sockeye on Saturday for a total of 851,619 fish this season. They caught 131 chinook for a total of 2,121 to date.
Zero coho and pinks were caught Saturday and just 297 chum.
Most of Saturday's harvest were caught on the South Peninsula, with the South Unimak and Shumagin Islands fleets' total harvest now at 735,903 sockeye and 1,428 chinook.
In the North Peninsula, total harvest is at 115,716 sockeye and 693 chinook by fleets in Nelson Lagoon and Port Heiden.
Port Moller Test Fishery
No stock composition analysis for the Port Moller Test Fishery yet, the next one is scheduled to be out sometime Monday. That’s for fish during two days, June 23 - June 24.
For Port Moller catches on Saturday June 24, no fish were caught at Stations 16 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 2 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Station 4 caught 50 fish in the small net and 80 fish in the big net. That catch index is 223.
Station 6 caught 6 fish in the small net and 34 fish in the big net. That catch index is 100.
Station 8 caught 51 fish in the small net and 75 fish in the big net. That catch index is 216.
Station 10 caught 1 fish in the small net and 10 fish in the big net. That catch index is 25.
Station 12 caught 12 fish in the small net and 52 fish in the big net. That catch index is 132.
Station 18 caught 2 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 8.
Station 22 caught 0 fish in the small net and 3 fish in the big net. That catch index is 8.
Station 24 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Get in touch with fisheries reporters at fish@kdlg.org.
