Hundreds of fishermen across Bristol Bay offload their catch at local processors in Dillingham—the main hub for the busy Nushagak district. But of all the ports across the bay, Dillingham’s holds something unique: for the past 12 years, the city has not enforced any raw fish sales tax whatsoever, missing out on millions of dollars. KDLG’s Ryan Berkoski sat down with Alice Ruby, the mayor of Dillingham, and Chris Maines, the city planner, to talk about what caused this tax hiatus and why it’s back now. For more information, visit the Dillingham City website. Note that processors and buyers must register within 10 days of receiving notice, and fishermen are reminded to keep copies of all fish tickets.
Folks on the water know that there’s something special to the sockeye shimmer. One driftfisher on the water has been focused on how to take that shimmer home. Morgan Edmister fishes Bristol Bay by summer, and makes jewelry the rest of the year with an unusual medium: wild salmon skin. KDLG's Jessie Sheldon spoke with Edmisnter to learn more about her process. You can find her salmon skin jewelry at BeyondOceanAK.com
Messages to the Fleet
To Captain Brent Cathey on the F/V Independence:
Hey Snookums! Hope fishing is going well. Did the Raspberry Delite scented satin pillowcase work out okay? I’m sorry you couldn’t find the mango one, you might have left it at the spa you went to before heading to the Bay? Or it might be packed in the same bag as the Clementine Mango Starfruit Kombucha Body Spray you love so much. Anywho, look there, but just in case, Matt Hakela on the Buckshot's Point might have something with that scent, his wife says he gets that scent in a body lotion, and he buys it by the case.
Okay, I’m off to reorganize your shop! Say Hi to the crew!
Love,
Montana Chick
PS. Someone stopped by asking about buying your 1978 Bronco. I told them to come back tomorrow so we could discuss it. I couldn't believe their offer; I told them you wouldn't be interested in that much money, and would more than likely want to donate it since it's so old.
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 Sunday was 1,816,838 fish, bringing the cumulative catch to 5,169,722 sockeye. Escapement yesterday was at 1,450,385 fish, bringing the run so far to 9,444,175 fish. The forecast this year expects a total run of 44.05 million sockeye.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets caught 933,344 fish on Sunday, for a total of 1,819,585 sockeye, with an average drift delivery of 955 sockeye. The total run this season in the Nushagak District is now 5,099,024 fish.
Their pre-season forecast is an 18.39 million run with a potential surplus of 13.9 million fish for harvest.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 786,587 sockeye on Sunday, for a total of 2,026,915 sockeye up the Nushagak so far, with another 93,000 fish past the sonar this morning.
6,726 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar yesterday; their total is 17,150 fish so far this season. 9,111 chum salmon passed the sonar yesterday, for a total of 131,170 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 454,188 sockeye on Sunday, making their total count 1,215,372 fish, plus another 68,538 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 15,828 fish yesterday, for a total of 37,152 fish, with an additional 4,308 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
No fish were caught in Togiak the other day, their total is 2,425 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
135,208 fish were caught in the Naknek-Kvichak District yesterday, their total catch is 345,244 sockeye., with an average drift delivery of 393 sockeye.
The Naknek towers counted 83,136 fish yesterday, for a total of 155,178 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 59,742 fish for a total of 72,042 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 total run for Naknek-Kvichak is at 922,464 fish. The pre-season run forecast for the district is around 11 million fish, with a projected surplus of 6.2 million sockeye.
Egegik
488,983 fish were caught yesterday in Egegik, with an average drift delivery of 954 sockeye, and their season total catch is 1,865,749 sockeye.
50,148 spawners made it past the counting towers in Egegik yesterday, bringing the season’s total escapement up to 364,218 fish so far. Their escapement goal range is 800,000 to 2 million fish.
Overall, the total run for Egegik sits at 2,279,967 sockeye, and the forecasted inshore run is for 8.9 million fish, with a potential surplus of 7.5 million for harvest.
Ugashik
Ugashik crews hauled in 259,303 fish yesterday; their season’s catch is 1,136,719 sockeye. The forecast predicts a surplus of 4.3 million fish for harvest.
756 fish were counted passing by the Ugashik towers, for a total escapement of 3,576. Their escapement goal range is 500,000 to 1.4 million sockeye.
The Ugashik total run is 1,140,295 fish so far, the inshore run is forecasted at 5.2 million fish.
Vessel Registrations
As of 9 a.m. this morning, in Egegik, there are 443 permits on 311 boats. That will increase to 444 permits on 312 boats by Wednesday, and the number of DBoats will stay at 132.
The Ugashik District has 209 permits on 142 boats, which will increase to 211 permits on 143 boats in the next 2 days. DBoats will go up from 67 to 68.
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 186 permits on 146 boats. That will increase to 209 permits on 164 boats by Wednesday. DBoats will go from 40 to 45.
In the Nushagak, there are 708 permits on 501 boats. In the next 2 days, that will move up to 720 permits on 511 boats. DBoats will move up from 207 to 209.
The Togiak District has 19 permits on 19 boats, which will move up to 20 permits on 20 boats in the next two days.
In total bay-wide, there are 1,565 active permits on 1,119 boats and 446 DBoats.
Chignik River Weir
At the Chignik River weir, 10,162 sockeye swam through the weir on Sunday, for a season total of 283,486 sockeye.
Area M
Over in Area M yesterday, fleets harvested 155,046 sockeye for a season total of 2,291,741 sockeye.
12 chinook were caught, their total season harvest is 1,294 chinook thus far.
Fleets caught 5,649 chum on Sunday, for a total of 486,183 chum.
And 8,974 pinks were caught, making their harvest 1,325,697.
1 Coho was caught on Sunday, their total is 502.
A total of 4,105,417 million salmon across all species have been caught in Area M so far this season.
Port Moller Test Fishery:
Over the weekend, Port Moller’s sixth stock composition was released, covering June 26–27.
North Peninsula 2.9%
Ugashik 11.3%
Egegik 21.1%
Naknek 1.7%
Alagnak 7.3%
Kvichak 25.0%
Nushagak 13.7%
Wood 14.4%
Igushik 0.4%
Togiak 0.1%
Kuskokwim 2.2%
Over the weekend, Port Moller hit their highest daily catch index of the year so far, saying that an extremely early run is looking to be less likely. Although, in yesterday’s catch update, numbers were significantly down. But this may be a result of poor weather conditions rather than the run slowing. Only time will tell.
For Port Moller catches on Sunday, no fish were caught at Stations 2 and 18.
Station 4 caught 42 fish in the small net and 9 fish in the big net. That catch index is 90.
Station 6 caught 32 fish in the small net and 35 fish in the big net. That catch index is 109.
Station 8 caught 45 fish in the small net and 45 fish in the big net. That catch index is 154.
Station 10 caught 3 fish in the small net and 8 fish in the big net. That catch index is 23.
Station 12 caught 5 fish in the small net and 8 fish in the big net. That catch index is 28.
Station 14 caught 2 fish in the small net and 2 fish in the big net. That catch index is 9.
Station 16 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Station 20 caught 1 fish in the small net and 0 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Station 22 caught 0 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 2.
Station 24 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 Sunday was 35. The average length of fish caught in the small mesh was 510mm, and 528mm for fish in the big mesh.
Get in touch at fish@kdlg.org.
