It’s our final show of the season. The total run is estimated at 56 million, surpassing its preseason forecast of 51 million fish. Marine safety programs rely on a database that tracks commercial fishing deaths, but after mass layoffs at multiple federal agencies, it’s unclear if anyone is updating that information. And, economist Gunnar Knapp gives us some history on seafood processors in Bristol Bay.
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.
Despite a safe fishing season in the Bay, mass layoffs at federal agencies spark concerns for the future
The sockeye salmon run is wrapping up in Bristol Bay, and so far, there haven’t been any operational commercial fishing deaths, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
That’s a number to celebrate, but right now it’s unclear if anyone is keeping track of that data at the federal agency that’s responsible for analyzing commercial fishing fatalities.
Economist reflects on the seafood market's impacts on Bristol Bay processors
In the last year, multiple large seafood processors left Bristol Bay.
OBI’s three plants in the Bay were taken over by its competitor Silver Bay Seafoods and the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation. Last November, Silver Bay acquired longtime seafood processor Peter Pan’s Dillingham plant.
Gunnar Knapp is a retired economist and professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He’s been following trends in the Bristol Bay seafood industry for decades.
KDLG spoke to Knapp about the history of large processors pulling out of the bay, and what that means for local fishermen.
Check-in with Area Management Biologist Tim Sands
KDLG hears Area Management biologist Tim Sands' thoughts on fishing in the Togiak District. Listen to that interview below.
The Numbers
Baywide Total
The baywide catch on July 24 was 88,339 fish, making the total season catch 40,235,496. Overall escapement is at 15,239,331. The total run as of July 24, July 24 was estimated at 55,474,827 sockeye. The run has surpassed its preseason forecast of 51.4 million fish, and it is within the preseason estimated range of 37–66 million fish.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets hauled in 7,278 fish on July 24, for a total of 16,086,498 with an average drift delivery of 212 sockeye. They are above the pre-season catch forecast of 15.7 million fish.
Escapement was 13,138 yesterday, for an overall count of 6,557,739. The total run this season in the Nushagak District is 22,644,237, surpassing the pre-season forecast of 21 million fish.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 2,548 sockeye on July 24, for a total of 3,255,555 sockeye up the Nushagak.
10 chinook passed the sonar, their total is 34,134. And 1,385 chum passed the sonar, their total is 368,366.
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
5,478 sockeye passed the Wood River counting tower on July 24, for a total of 2,651,742, with another 2,604 fish passing the tower as of 6 a.m. this morning. The Wood River has passed its escapement forecast of 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 5,112 fish yesterday, for a total of 650,442, with an additional 2,484 fish counted as of 6 a.m. this morning. Igushik has surpassed its preseason escapement estimate of 340,000 fish, and has exceeded its escapement goal range of 150,000 to 400,000.
Togiak
16,776 sockeye were counted by the Togiak tower crews on July 24, for a total of 161,196, with another 1,128 fish counted as of 6 a.m. this morning. Escapement in the Togiak is an expected 230,000, and they are within the escapement goal range of 120,000 to 270,000.
Naknek-Kvichak
Naknek and Kvichak fishing fleets caught 26,359 fish yesterday; their total is 11,707,772, with a drift delivery of 322 sockeye. They have surpassed the pre-season catch forecast of 7.7 million fish.
Escapement was 11,202 yesterday, for an overall count of 6,137,772. The total run this season in the Naknek-Kvichak District is 17,845,544, exceeding the pre-season forecast of 16 million sockeye.
Kvichak River
The Kvichak River crews counted 4,812 fish, for a total of 2,963,772. Their escapement forecast is at 4 million fish, and the Kvichak is within their escapement goal range of 2 million to 10 million.
Alagnak
6,390 fish were counted swimming in the Alagnak River yesterday, making their total 2,131,848. The Alagnak River’s escapement is estimated to be 2.7 million sockeye.
Egegik
Egegik fleets brought in 37,197 fish yesterday, making their total catch 7,435,160, with an average drift delivery of 539 sockeye. Egegik has surpassed its pre-season catch forecast of 5.2 million fish.
The total season run for Egegik is 8,817,266, and they are past their preseason run forecast of 6.5 million sockeye salmon.
Ugashik
Ugashik fleets brought in 17,505 fish yesterday, their total harvest is 4,929,964, with an average drift delivery of 389 sockeye. Ugashik’s catch forecast is 5.5 million fish.
Escapement in Ugashik was 10,992 yesterday, for a total of 1,000,518 and escapement is an expected 1.2 million, and they are within their escapement goal range of 500,000 to 1.4 million.
The total season run for Ugashik is 5,930,482, and the preseason run forecast is 6.9 million sockeye.
Chignik River weir
At the Chignik River weir, 14,155 sockeye swam through the weir on July 24, for a season total of 733,715.
1,351 fish were part of the early run, and 12,804 fish were part of the late run.
Area M
Over in Area M yesterday, fleets harvested 23,466 sockeye on July 24 for a season total of 1,992,507.
4 chinook were caught yesterday, and their overall harvest is 6,214.
Fleets caught 6,908 chum on July 24, for a total of 747,229.
1,149 pinks were caught the other day, their harvest is 1,079,449.
And 2,678 cohos were caught on July 24, their total is 85,885.
A total of 3,911,283 salmon across all species have been caught in Area M this season.
