Get in touch and share some perspective — give us a call at 907-842-5281 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.
Fishermen rescued in a series of close calls across Bristol Bay
On June 28, Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to a report of an overturned commercial fishing boat in the Ugashik district, near Pilot Point. All three of the people onboard were rescued, as reported by KDLG. That same week, deckhands fell overboard in the Naknek River, and in the Egegik district and were rescued by nearby crews.
KDLG spoke with a captain in the Naknek and a deckhand that went overboard, who credited nearby crews acting quickly to help with the rescues.
" I don't want to be afraid of the water, but at the same time you want to have a respect and a reverence for what you're doing, because it is really dangerous."Shawn Kane
Fishing gear recycling program asks for cleaner nets
It’s easy to throw a can or bottle in the bin and never think about it again. But for fishing net recyclers in Bristol Bay, drop off is just the first step in the recycling process.
In Dillingham, a backlog of used fishing nets poses a challenge for local recycling programs.
Messages to the Fleet
This message is for Captain Mike “Fish Head” Fourtner and the stellar crew onboard the “Twin Tuition” working hard and eyes on the prize.
We're expecting a great fireworks show tonight but we’re thinking you have a better show with “Sockeyes, Chinooks and Chums” coming over the stern. Be safe and have a wonderful season.
Captain Sensi on the Deborah Ann, Charleston SC
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Happy birthday to Virgil Delkittie!
From Virginia, Gilbert, Jeanie, and Martin.
And Good Luck Fishing!
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Happy birthday to Virgil Delkittie, and happy fishing.
From Julie, Chris, Christine, and Smokie
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The Numbers
While the Nushagak district numbers have fizzled down a bit, Eastside counts have continued climbing up: escapement in the Naknek-Kvichak was over 700,000, and Egegik fleets drew in more fish than any other district yesterday.
Baywide Total
The baywide catch on Thursday was 1,504,394 fish, making the total season catch 18,171,596. Overall escapement is at 7,882,985 so far. The total run as of Thursday, July 3 was estimated at 27,054,581 sockeye. The preseason forecast is set at 51.4 million fish, and the preseason estimated range is 37–66 million fish.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets hauled in 407,830 fish on Thursday, for a total of 9,495,639 with an average drift delivery of 382 sockeye. The pre-season catch forecast in the Nushagak District is 15.7 million fish.
Escapement was 280,624 yesterday, for an overall count of 4,518,515 so far. The total run this season in the Nushagak District is 14,014,154, and the pre-season forecast is 21 million fish.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 101,692 sockeye on Thursday, for a total of 2,629,247 sockeye up the Nushagak so far.
522 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar; their total is 27,369 so far this season. 6,165 chum passed the sonar, for a total of 299,973.
The Nushagak River has surpassed its expected escapement of 2 million fish, and has exceeded its escapement goal range of 370,000 to 2.5 million. The escapement goal range for chinook salmon is 55,000 to 120,000.
Wood River
156,354 sockeye passed the Wood River counting tower on Thursday, for a total of 1,705,164 so far, with another 18,426 fish passing the tower as of 6 a.m. this morning. Overall escapement is forecasted to be 2.4 million sockeye this season, and the Wood is within its escapement goal range of 700,000 to 3 million.
Igushik
The Igushik tower crew counted 22,578 fish yesterday, for a total of 184,104, with an additional 5,316 fish counted as of 6 a.m. this morning. Igushik’s preseason escapement estimate is 340,000 fish, and it is within its escapement goal range of 150,000 to 400,000.
Togiak
Fishing crews in Togiak caught 12,030 fish on Thursday, with a total catch of 59,216 so far, with an average drift delivery of 176 sockeye. The pre-season catch forecast is 750,000 fish.
The Togiak River’s forecasted run is 1 million fish, and its escapement estimate is 230,000.
Naknek-Kvichak
Naknek and Kvichak fishing fleets caught 418,287 fish yesterday; their total is 3,297,806, with a drift delivery of 800 sockeye. The pre-season catch forecast is around 7.7 million fish.
Escapement was 722,214 yesterday, for an overall count of 2,510,724 so far. The total run this season in the Naknek-Kvichak District is [6,608,530, and the pre-season forecast is a 16 million sockeye run.
Naknek River
Naknek tower crews spotted 17,130 fish yesterday, their total is 601,326. The Naknek’s escapement estimate is 1.1 million sockeye, and escapement goal range is 800,000 to 2 million.
Kvichak River
The Kvichak River crews counted 490,992 fish, for a total of 1,037,262. Their escapement forecast is at 4 million fish, and their escapement goal range is 2 million to 10 million.
Alagnak
214,092 fish were counted swimming in the Alagnak River yesterday, making their total 872,136 The Alagnak River’s escapement is estimated to be 2.7 million sockeye.
Egegik
Egegik fleets brought in 434,384 fish yesterday, making their total catch 3,566,289, with an average drift delivery of 1,120 sockeye. The pre-season catch forecast is 5.2 million fish.
57,564 spawners were counted passing the towers in Egegik yesterday, making the season’s total escapement 712,740 fish. The Egegik river’s escapement forecast is 1.1 million fish, with an escapement goal range of 800,000 to 2 million.
The total season run so far for Egegik is 4,379,029, and the preseason run forecast is 6.5 million sockeye salmon.
Ugashik
Ugashik fleets brought in 231,863 fish yesterday, their total harvest is 1,752,646, with an average drift delivery of 1,422 sockeye. Ugashik’s catch forecast is 5.5 million fish.
Escapement in Ugashik was 40,932 yesterday, for a total of 141,006 and escapement is an expected 1.2 million, with an escapement goal range of 500,000 to 1.4 million.
The total season run for Ugashik is 1,993,652, and the preseason run forecast is 6.9 million sockeye.
Vessel Registrations
As of 9 a.m. this morning, in Egegik, there are 232 permits on 166 boats. By Sunday that should move up to 233 permits on 167 boats, and the number of DBoats will remain at 67.
The Ugashik District has 216 permits on 147 boats, which should increase to 235 permits on 160 boats in the next 2 days. DBoats will move up from 69 to 75.
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 349 permits on 263 boats. That should increase to 399 permits on 301 boats by Sunday. DBoats will increase from 86 to 98.
In the Nushagak, there are 752 permits on 537 boats. In the next 2 days that should move down to 751 permits on 536 boats. DBoats will stay at 214.
In Togiak there are 22 permits on 22 boats, and that should stay the same by Sunday.
In total bay-wide, there are 1,571 active permits on 1,135 boats and 436 DBoats.
Chignik River weir
At the Chignik River weir, 26,623 sockeye swam through the weir on Thursday, for a season total of 321,277 so far.
21,982 fish were part of the early run, and 4,641 fish were part of the late run.
Area M
Over in Area M yesterday, fleets harvested 56,712 sockeye on Thursday for a season total of 958,468.
14 chinook were caught yesterday, and their overall harvest is 1,778 thus far.
Fleets caught 2,617 chum on Thursday, for a total of 152,817.
35 pinks were caught the other day, their harvest is 115,720.
And 3 cohos were caught on Thursday, their total is 241.
A total of 1,229,024 salmon across all species have been caught in Area M this season.
Port Moller Test Fishery
Yesterday, Port Moller sent out their eighth stock composition of the season for June 29–July 1.
North Peninsula 1.7%, Ugashik 0.5%, Egegik 22.8%, Naknek 9.1%, Alagnak 5.9%, Kvichak 18.9%, Nushagak 23.2%, Wood 13.2%, Igushik 4.0%, Togiak 0.1%, Kuskokwim 0.6%
For Port Moller catches on Thursday, no fish were caught at stations 18 and 24.
Station 2 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 3.
Station 4 caught 1 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 5.
Station 6 caught 21 fish in the small net and 5 fish in the big net. That catch index is 65.
Station 8 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 3.
Station 10 caught 4 fish in the small net and 3 fish in the big net. That catch index is 18.
Station 12 caught 13 fish in the small net and 4 fish in the big net. That catch index is 41.
Station 14 caught 2 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 8.
Station 16 caught 4 fish in the small net and 16 fish in the big net. That catch index is 46.
Station 20 caught 7 fish in the small net and 4 fish in the big net. That catch index is 29.
Station 22 caught 18 fish in the small net and 10 fish in the big net. That catch index is 70.
Overall, the average catch index for Thursday was 26. The average length of fish caught in the small mesh is 506mm, and 530mm for fish in the big mesh.
