Anticipation is building in the Nushagak district as the fleet gets ready for the first opening of the season, which kicks off tomorrow. KDLG checked-in with west side area management biologist Tim Sands this afternoon to get the latest.
A federal court in Anchorage held arguments yesterday over the proposed Pebble mine. The US District Judge Sharon Gleason presiding over the hearing stated she will try to make a final determination in the near term. Litigants are hopeful that this ruling will be the final say in a 16 year long process over the proposed mine’s future.
Plaintiffs of the case, including Pebble Limited Partnership and Northern Dynasty Minerals, argued that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has limited authority to prevent the development of the mine. Pebble’s attorney argued alongside the State of Alaska, Iliamna Native Limited, and Alaska Peninsula Corporation. Defendants of the case were the Department of Justice on behalf of the EPA, as well as a representative for 22 intervener defendant groups. These groups include several entities from Bristol Bay like Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, and Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay.
Hearings from both the plaintiffs and defendants dove deep into administrative law, presenting arguments over salmon genetics, US waterways, the definition of a fishery, and the difference between the words “likely” and “will” when it comes to having adverse effects.
Daniel Cheyette was present in the courtroom yesterday. He’s the Senior Vice President for legal and land at the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, one of the 23 intervenor defendants. KDLG spoke with Cheyette to learn what occurred in the courtroom, and what a ruling might mean for the Bristol Bay Fishery.
Messages to the Fleet
No messages to the fleet tonight. If you’d like to send a message to the fleet, give us a call at 842-5281 or send an email to fish@kdlg.org.
The Numbers
The bay-wide catch on Thursday was 459,602 fish, bringing the cumulative catch to 1,297,111 sockeye, while the catch forecast sits at 32.26 million sockeye. Escapement yesterday was 361,172 fish, bringing the run so far to 2,401,635 fish. The forecast this year expects a total run of 44.05 million sockeye.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets caught 9,793 fish on Thursday, for a total of about 63,836 sockeye. The total run this season in the Nushagak District is now 859,302 fish.
Their pre-season forecast is an 18.39 million run with a potential surplus of 13.9 million fish.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 201,584 sockeye on Thursday, for a total of 557,560 sockeye up the Nushagak so far, with another 66,000 fish past the sonar this morning.
2,009 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar yesterday; their total is 8,249 fish so far this season. 17,808 chum salmon passed the sonar yesterday, for a total of 66,106 fish.
The Nushagak River is estimated to see an 11.1 million fish run this season, with an escapement goal range of 370,000 to 2.6 million fish.
The escapement goal range for king salmon in the Nushagak River is 55,000 to 120,000 fish.
Wood River
The Wood River tower crews counted 64,410 sockeye on Thursday, making their total count 233,106 fish, plus another 18,486 sockeye past the tower as of 6 am this morning.
The Wood River is estimated to see a 6.43 million fish run this season, with an escapement goal range of 700,000 to 2.8 million fish.
Igushik
Igushik crews counted 4,800 fish yesterday, with an additional 1,998 sockeye as of 6am this morning. They have an estimated run of 890,000 fish, and an escapement goal range of 150,000 to 400,000 fish.
Togiak
697 fish were caught in Togiak the other day, with an average drift delivery of 30 sockeye, making their total 2,181 sockeye.
No Togiak escapement counts yet, the district’s tower crews are scheduled to begin around July 4th. The Togiak River’s forecasted inshore sockeye run this season is 530,000 fish, with an escapement goal range of 120,000 to 270,000.
Naknek-Kvichak
no fish were caught in the Naknek-Kvichak District yesterday, their total catch is 11,721 sockeye.
The Naknek towers counted 9,828 fish yesterday, for a total of 10,974 fish so far. The Naknek river has an estimated inshore run of 3.9 million sockeye, and the escapement goal range is 800,000 to 2 million.
Kvichak crews counted just 174 fish for a total of 402 sockeye so far. Their estimated run is 3.9 million fish, and their escapement goal range is at 2 million to 10 million.
The Alagnak River’s forecasted run is about 3.2 million sockeye, with an escapement goal of a minimum of 210,000 sockeye.
The pre-season run forecast for the district is around 11 million fish, with a projected surplus of 6.2 million sockeye.
Egegik
A whopping 449,112 fish were caught yesterday in Egegik, with an average drift delivery of 698 sockeye, and their season total catch is 584,171 sockeye.
80,376 spawners made it past the counting towers in Egegik yesterday, bringing the season’s total escapement up to 197,682 fish so far.
Overall, the total run for Egegik sits at 881,853 sockeye, and the forecasted inshore run is for 8.9 million fish. The escapement goal range for the Egegik River is 800,000 to 2 million fish, leaving a potential surplus of 7.5 million for harvest.
Ugashik
Ugashik crews hauled in no fish yesterday; their season’s catch is 635,202 sockeye so far.
No escapement numbers yet, but the Ugashik inshore run is forecasted at 5.2 million fish. Their escapement goal range is 500,000 to 1.4 million sockeye, leaving a potential surplus of 4.3 million fish for harvest.
Vessel Registrations
As of 9 a.m. this morning, in Egegik, there are 471 permits on 330 boats. That will increase to 477 permits on 334 boats by Sunday, and the number of DBoats will increase from 141 to 143.
The Ugashik District has 203 permits on 138 boats, which will increase to 223 permits on 149 boats in the next 2 days. DBoats will go up from 65 to 74.
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 115 permits on 92 boats. That will increase to 142 permits on 113 boats by Sunday. DBoats will go from 23 to 29.
In the Nushagak, there are 265 permits on 202 boats. In the next 2 days, that will shoot up to 416 permits on 301 boats. DBoats will move up from 63 to 115.
The Togiak District has 14 permits on 14 boats, which will stay the same in the next two days.
In total bay-wide, there are 1,068 active permits on 776 boats and 292 DBoats.
Chignik River Weir
At the Chignik River weir, 5,412 sockeye swam through the weir on Thursday, for a season total of 252,073 sockeye. 5,051 fish were part of the early run, and 361 fish were part of the late run.
Area M
Over in Area M yesterday, fleets harvested 80,079 sockeye for a season total of 1,812,450.
35 chinook were caught, their total season harvest is 1,110 thus far.
Fleets caught 23,523 chum on Thursday, for a total of 447,183.
And 42,131 pinks were caught the other day, bringing their harvest to 1,238,872.
9 cohos were caught on Thursday, their total is 501.
A total of 3,500,116 million salmon across all species have been caught in Area M so far this season.
Port Moller Test Fishery:
Port Moller’s fifth stock composition is out, covering June 24–25.
North Peninsula 2.0%
Ugashik 0.3%
Egegik 22.5%
Naknek 1.2%
Alagnak 7.8%
Kvichak 19.4%
Nushagak 28.7%
Wood 17.2%
Igushik 0.2%
Togiak 0.1%
Kuskokwim 0.7%
For Port Moller catches on Thursday, no fish were caught at Station 20, and Stations 2, 22, and 24 were not fished.
Station 4 caught 11 fish in the small net and 8 fish in the big net. That catch index is 41.
Station 6 caught 52 fish in the small net and 21 fish in the big net. That catch index is 151.
Station 8 caught 32 fish in the small net and 40 fish in the big net. That catch index is 149.
Station 10 caught 51 fish in the small net and 82 fish in the big net. That catch index is 275.
Station 12 caught 27 fish in the small net and 26 fish in the big net. That catch index is 103.
Station 14 caught 1 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 4.
Station 16 caught 8 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 15.
Station 18 caught 0 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Overall, the average catch index for Thursday was 65. The average length of fish caught in the small mesh was 516mm, and 535mm for fish in the big mesh.
Get in touch at fish@kdlg.org.
