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The Numbers.
The baywide catch on Monday was 384,284 fish, bringing the total season catch to 30,163,749 according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Cumulative escapement is at 19,494,063 so far. The total run as of Monday, July 22 was estimated at 49,657,812 sockeye. That’s above the preseason prediction of 39 million fish, but still within the preseason estimated range of 25 to 53 million fish.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets hauled in 31,697 fish on Monday, for a total of 11,779,598. That’s around 50% higher than the pre-season catch forecast of 7.9 million fish, with an average drift delivery of 284 sockeye. The total run this season in the Nushagak District is now 18,519,773, which is 50% higher than the pre-season forecast of 12.4 million fish.
The drift fleet has caught 75% of that total harvest, while Nushagak set netters have harvested 21%, and set netters in the Igushik have harvested 4%.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 3,953 sockeye on Monday, for a total of 1,689,363 sockeye up the Nushagak so far. And the Nushagak River is past its sockeye escapement goal range of 370,000 to 1.4 million fish.
242 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar; their total is 41,691 so far this season. That's around three quarters of the way to the bottom end of the escapement goal range of 55,000 to 120,000 chinook in the Nushagak.
6,846 chum salmon passed the sonar yesterday, for a total of 289,095.
Wood River
17,088 sockeye passed the Wood River counting tower on Monday, bringing the total escapement to 4,404,654. The Wood River counting crews are finished for the season; the Department of Fish and Game reported that the 2024 season run was the 4th largest escapement in the Wood River, passing the top end of the escapement goal by 1.4 million.
Igushik
The Igushik tower crew counted 10,338 fish yesterday, for a total of 646,158 so far, with an additional 2,298 fish counted as of 6 a.m. this morning. That’s over triple the Igushik’s preseason escapement estimate of 210,000 fish.
Togiak
Fishing crews in Togiak caught 17,310 fish on Monday, for a total catch of 295,486 so far. That’s over halfway to the pre-season catch forecast of 500,000 fish, with an average drift delivery of 275 sockeye.
The Togiak tower crew counted 14,070 fish on Monday, for a season total of 152,202 spawners, with another 4,218 fish counted as of 6 a.m. this morning, bringing the total run this season to 447,688.
The Togiak River is about two thirds of the way to its forecasted run of 680,000 fish, and it is within its escapement goal range of 120,000 to 270,000.
Naknek-Kvichak
Naknek and Kvichak fishing fleets caught 218,033 fish yesterday; the season’s total catch stands at 8,865,984 fish. That’s higher than the pre-season catch forecast of around 7.6 million fish. Drifters in the Naknek and Kvichak Rivers have caught 80% of the season’s total catch, setnetters on the Kvichak have caught 13%, and setnetters on the Naknek have caught 7%.
The Naknek tower crew is finished for the season; their total is at 926,112 fish. That’s within the Naknek River’s escapement goal range of 800,000 to 2 million sockeye.
The Kvichak tower crew counted 18,252 fish yesterday, bringing their season total to 6,560,448. The Kvichak River is within the escapement goal range of 2 million to 10 million.
11,736 fish were counted swimming in the Alagnak River yesterday, making their total 2,300,604. The Alagnak River is well past its minimum escapement goal of 210,000.
The total season run for Naknek/Kvichak is 18,653,148 so far. That’s above the preseason estimate of a 15 million sockeye run.
Egegik
Egegik fleets brought in 75,156 fish yesterday, making their total catch 5,016,020. That’s past the pre-season catch forecast of 4.3 million fish, with an average drift delivery of 548 sockeye. Egegik drifters have caught 77% of the total catch this season, and setnetters have caught 23%.
2,100 spawners were counted passing the towers in Egegik yesterday, making the season’s total escapement 1,111,506 fish. The Egegik river is within its escapement goal of 800,000 to 2 million fish. The total season run so far for Egegik is 6,127,526, which is well above the preseason run forecast of 5.5 million sockeye salmon.
Ugashik
Ugashik fleets brought in 42,088 fish yesterday, making the cumulative catch 4,206,661. That’s higher than the pre-season catch forecast of 3.6 million fish, with an average drift delivery of 297 sockeye. Ugashik drifters have caught 88% of the season’s total catch, and setnetters have caught 12%.
32,262 fish were counted passing the Ugashik counting tower on Monday, bringing total escapement to 1,703,016, which is past the upper end of the Ugashik district’s escapement goal range of 500,000 to 1.4 million fish.
Ugashik’s total run for the season is 5,909,677, surpassing the preseason forecast for this year’s total run size of 4.6 million.
Chignik River weir
At the Chignik River weir, 13,273 sockeye swam through the weir on Monday, for a season total of 526,377 so far.
1,554 fish were part of the early run, and 11,719 fish were part of the late run.
Area M
Over in Area M, fleets harvested 12,741 sockeye on Monday, for a season total of 2,213,781.
3 chinook were caught in Area M yesterday. Their total season harvest is 5,982.
248 chum were caught yesterday. Their season harvest is 493,516.
304 coho were caught on Monday. Their season total is 31,707.
And 52 pinks were caught. The pink’s season total is 342,308.
Most commercial harvests in Area M this season have been caught by South Unimak and Shumagin Islands fleets, with harvest also coming in from Cold Bay, the Dolgoi Island area and from Morzhovoi Bay to South Unimak on the South Peninsula. And, on the North Peninsula, from Port Moller to Outer Point Heiden, from the Nelson Lagoon, and from the Northwestern District.
Get in touch at fish@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
