If you’d like to send a message to the fleet, get in touch or give some perspective, give us a call 842-5281 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org.
Voices of the fleet
We kick off tonight’s show with another story from Voices of the Fleet, a series of personal stories from around Bristol Bay with KDLG’s Mark McKeown.
Salmon sampling: The data behind the decisions
The Alaska Dept of Fish and Game is tasked with managing the massively complex nine-river Bristol Bay fishery. As the most productive wild salmon fishery in the world, that means managing an incredibly amount of data - everything from tracking the enormous runs of tens of millions of fish, down to scales, size and weight of individual salmon. That individual data is collected by Fish and Game techs who go out each tide and sample hundreds of fish at the docks of the processors. KDLG’s Jack Darrell tagged along with two samplers in Dillingham, and has this story.
Naknek check-in
KDLG’s Jessie Sheldon checked in with lifelong Naknek set-netter Nathan Hill, to hear the latest on the run over there, and how this season compares to years past.
Mechanical Monday
This season on the Fish Report, we have a new weekly segment called Mechanical Mondays. Whether you are an experienced boat engineer or a new deckhand, or working with a new engine or boat this season, we’ll spotlight boat mechanics’ tips, tricky engine problems, the quick patchwork repairs and what works long term.
Today, we have Gabe Dunham of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Marine Advisory Program back to talk us through coolants, belts, and pulleys.
On Mechanical Mondays, we’re spotlighting not only what goes wrong, but also what boat engineers are getting right these days. Call us with your mechanical tip, questions or best repair…give us a call at 842-2200 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org.
Messages to the Fleet
A birthday message for Keith Bell:
To the beautiful captain of the Dire Straits
From the boys in Prince William Sound, happy birthday Keith!
Hi Caleb, just a quick note to say we love you, miss you, and are praying for you and Jaydon.
Love, dad, mom, Rachel and Karis
To Kio on the Balaena-
While the Red Bull taught us that unicorns can in fact survive and thrive in deep ocean waves, the best Lady Amalthea could do was stumble through the surf. Stay safe and remember to use your powers for good
Much love, The Second to the Last
To Capt. Elijah Henry on F/V Bristol Pride,
We love you, miss you, and are sending good thoughts from Bay City! Counting the days til we see you! The dogs and cats are doing great, but they sure miss you…especially Dash! We’r e keeping them entertained for you
Love,
Jennifer and Ethan
If you’d like to send a message to the fleet get in touch or give some perspective, give us a call 842-5281 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org.
The numbers
Sunday saw another million fish harvest day, with 1,379,466 caught bay-wide.
The total season catch is now at 21,522,068. Escapement yesterday was 410,013 for a season total of 7,182,236 spawners up-river, and another 255,000 estimated in-river.
The total run as of yesterday July 9, was at 28,959,304.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets harvested 485,997 fish on Sunday, with an average drift delivery of 1,752 sockeye. The total catch is at 8,380,346.
The drift fleet h as caught about 81 percent of that total harvest, while Nushagak set netters have harvested 16.5 percent, and set netters in the Igushik have harvested 3 percent.
Nushagak River
At the Nushagak River sonar, an estimated 14,193 sockeye passed on Sunday for a total of 1,467,398 this season.
An estimated 187 Chinook passed the N ushagak River sonar yesterday for a total of 29,053 this season. The escapement goal is at least 55,000.
Another 2,444 chum salmon passed the sonar, for a total of an estimated 77,877 this season.
Wood River
At the Wood River counting tower, an estimated 21,930 sockeye passed on Sunday, bringing the total escapement to 2,063,604. Another 3,318 swam up by 6 am this morning.
Igushik River
In the Igushik River, an estimated 17,807 sockeye passed on Sunday, for a total of 236,129 fish this season. Another 708 swam past the tower as of 6 am this morning.
Togiak
At the Togiak counting tower, crews estimate almost 4,944 sockeye passed on Sunday, for a total of 27,222 fish this season. Another 1,272 swam past the tower as of 6 am this morning. Togiak escapement is forecasted at 700,000.
No harvest in Togiak yesterday. The season total is 52,832. The total run in Togiak is at 80,054 fish.
Naknek-Kvichak
Naknek and Kvichak fishing fleets hauled in the biggest catch of the day Sunday with 571,965 fish. The average drift delivery there was 1,085 fish. The season total catch is now 5,334,981 fish. Yesterday’s escapement dropped to an estimated 314,052 with another 150,000 estimated in-river. The season’s total escapement is now at 8,006,571 fish.
The drift fleet caught about 78 percent of that total harvest, Naknek setnetters caught around 12 percent and Kvichak setnetters around 10 percent.
In the Naknek River, tower crews estimated 3,762 fish escaped yesterday, bringing the river’s cumulative escapement to over 668,874.
In the Kvichak River, an estimated 252,216 fish made it upstream past the counting tower, for a total escapement of 1,438,656 fish so far. The in-river estimate for the Kvichak was 150,000.
In the Alagnak River, tower crews estimated 58,074 fish swam upstream yesterday. The total season escapement is estimated at 414,060 fish.
The Naknek is forecasted to see a 6.5 million sockeye run, and the Kvichak is expecting to see over 8 million fish. The Alagnak is forecasted to get around 4.2 million.
Egegik
Egegik fishing crews caught 203,873 fish on Sunday, with an average drift delivery of 523 fish. The season’s total catch is now at 7,012,649.
Egegik drifters have caught about 82 percent of the harvest this season, and setnetters have caught 18 percent.
Escapement yesterday was an estimated 16,266 fish. Total escapement is estimated at 800,850 fish, with another 25,000 fish in-river. The total run is now at 7,838,499.
Ugashik
Ugashik fleets hauled in 117,631 fish on Sunday, with an average drift delivery of 1,035 fish. The season total catch is 741,260. Ugashik drifters have caught about 76 percent of that catch, and setnetters have caught 24 percent.
Escapement yesterday in Ugashik was estimated at 20,826. Total escapement is at an estimated 65,448 fish, with another 80,000 estimated in-river.
The total run in Ugashik is at 886,708. The run is forecasted to be 3.35 million this season.
We’re going to take a short break here, we’ll be back with vessel registrations, peninsula harvests and the latest from the Port Moller Test Fishery…
Vessel Registrations
As of noon today, in Egegik, there are 397 permits on 303 boats. That will increase slightly to 402 permits on 307 boats by Wednesday, and the number of DBoats will increase from 94 to 95 boats.
The Ugashik District has 159 permits on 116 boats, which will jump to 240 permits on 178 boats in the next 2 days. DBoats will go from 43 to 62 by Wednesday.
The Naknek-Kvichak District has 661 permits on 499 boats. That will increase to 689 permits on 520 boats by Wednesday. DBoats will increase from 162 to 169.
In the Nushagak, there are 331 permits on 249 boats. In the next 2 days, that will increase slightly to 335 permits on 252 boats. DBoats will increase from 83 to 84.
The Togiak District has 23 permits on 23 boats, which will stay the same in the next two days.
In total bay-wide, there are 1,571 active permits on 1,190 boats and 382 DBoats.
Chignik River
Chignik fleets have harvested 120,983 sockeye this season, as of the latest update on July 4.
At the Chignik River weir, 3,490 sockeye swam through the weir Sunday, for a season total of 409,993 fish.
An estimated 2,084 fish were part of the early run yesterday, for a season total of 368,255. An estimated 1,406 fish were part of the late run yesterday, for a total just under 42,000 fish.
Area M
In Area M, North and South Peninsula fleets harvested 1,910 sockeye on Sunday, for a season total of 1,667,034.
They caught 2 chinook on Sunday, for a season total of 2,906. No coho, pink, or chum salmon were caught yesterday.
The total Area M season harvest across species is now just under 2.19 million [2,185,111].
For the South Peninsula, total harvest is 904,454 sockeye and 1,775 chinook.
In the North Peninsula, total harvest is just under 762,580 sockeye and 1,131 chinook.
Port Moller Test Fishery:
The test fishery crew analyzed 190 fish for the stock composition estimate for July 6-7.
The largest percentage of the fish sampled were swimming to the Egegik River – an estimated 33 percent were headed there.
About 19 percent of the sampled sockeye were swimming to the Kvichak River.
An estimated 16 percent of the samplings were on their way to the Nushagak River, and 12 percent to the Wood River.
Another 12 percent were heading towards the Naknek River and the estimate for the Ugashik river is 5 percent. Less than 1% to the North Peninsula, Ugashik, Igushik, Togiak and Kuskokwim rivers.
North Peninsula 0.6%
Ugashik 0.6%
Egegik 33.4%
Naknek 12.0%
Alagnak 5.1%
Kvichak 18.9%
Nushagak 15.9%
Wood 12.0%
Igushik 0.6%
Togiak 0.1%
Kuskokwim 0.6%
For catch indices, rough weather once again limited fishing, but Port Moller crews got a few sets in.
For the July 9 indices, no fish were caught at Station 18.
At the following test fishery stations, the smaller mesh size is 4 ½ inch and the bigger mesh size is 5 ⅛.
Station 4 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Station 6 caught 1 fish in the small n et and 10 fish in the big net. That catch index is 21.
Station 8 caught 3 fish in the small net and 7 fish in the big net. That catch index is 19.
Station 10 caught 24 fish in the small net and 33 fish in the big net. That catch index is 76.
We’re going to take a short break … we’ll be back with you here on the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report in a moment.
Get in touch at fish@kdlg.org.
