We have an update to our coverage on the man overboard in Egegik Monday night. He has still not been found, but authorities have identified the crewmember as Seth Whiteman of Eagle River, age 23, and next of kin have been notified. We are still working to learn more details about this tragic accident.
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For over 70 years, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has used counting towers in Bristol Bay to track salmon escapement. That means techs hand count each fish that swims by. But new technology is on its way to the Bay. KDLG visited a research site on the Wood River this week to learn what AI and drones could mean for the fishery.
Up next, we check in with the Naknek/Kvichak area management biologist Travis Elison to get the latest on low escapement counts in the Nakenek, the latest stock composition estimates, and what that means for folks out fishing.
Messages to the Fleet
From Sean Symonds: happy birthday to Troy
A "big happy birthday " to the captain on the LindaK from Miss Denver!
Happy early birthday to Connor Sihon on the Naknek-Kvichak from mom, Steve, Auntie Juju and the rest of the Coeur d’Alene clan. We love you and will celebrate your dirty 30 when you get back home!
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 baywide catch on Thursday was 1,458,896 fish, bringing the cumulative catch to about 11,389,722 sockeye, while the catch forecast sits at 32.26 million sockeye. Escapement yesterday was 813,072 fish, bringing the run so far to 19,435,028 sockeye. The forecast this year expects a total run of 44.05 million sockeye.
Nushagak
In the Nushagak District, fleets caught 496,684 fish on Thursday, for a total of 4,323,052 sockeye, with an average drift delivery of 509 sockeye. 73% of harvest has been caught by the drift fleet, 23% by the set-net fleet, and 4% by set-netters in the Igushik. Their forecasted harvest is 13.9 million sockeye.
The total run this season in the Nushagak District is now 9,158,972 fish. Their pre-season forecast is an 18.39 million fish run.
Nushagak River
The Nushagak River sonar counted 150,315 sockeye on Thursday, for a total of 2,749,882 sockeye up the Nushagak so far.
538 Chinook passed the Nushagak River sonar; their total is 26,184 fish so far this season. 1,876 chum salmon passed the sonar yesterday, for a total of 147,469 fish.
The Nushagak River is estimated to see an 11.1 million fish run this season, and they are past their 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 54,402 sockeye on Thursday, making their total count 1,939,158 fish, plus another 9,480 sockeye past the tower as of 6 a.m. this morning.
The Wood River is estimated to see a 6.43 million fish run this season, and they are within their escapement goal range of 700,000 to 2.8 million fish.
Igushik
Igushik crews counted 38,796 fish yesterday, for a total of 146,880 fish, with an additional 8,784 sockeye as of 6 a.m. this morning. They have an estimated run of 890,000 fish, and an escapement goal range of 150,000 to 400,000 fish.
Togiak
4,619 fish were caught in Togiak the other day, their total is 18,695 sockeye, with an average drift delivery of 100 sockeye.
No Togiak escapement counts yet. 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
213,812 fish were caught in the Naknek-Kvichak District yesterday, their total catch is 964,033 sockeye, with an average drift delivery of 552 sockeye. 30% of the catch was caught by Kvichak set-netters, 22% by Naknek set-netters, and 48% by the Naknek-Kvichak drift fleet. Their projected surplus is 6.2 million sockeye.
The Naknek towers counted 53,328 fish yesterday, for a total of 317,364 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 241,236 fish for a total of 865,842 sockeye so far. Their estimated run is 3.9 million fish, and their escapement goal range is at 2 million to 10 million.
Alagnak towers counted 77,556 fish, for a total of 252,966. The Alagnak River’s forecasted run is about 3.2 million sockeye, and they are past their minimum escapement goal of 210,000 sockeye.
The total run for Naknek-Kvichak is at 2,800,205 fish. The pre-season run forecast for the district is around 11 million fish.
Egegik
436,370 fish were caught yesterday in Egegik, with an average drift delivery of 840 sockeye, and their season total catch is 3,633,936 sockeye. 82% of harvest was caught by the drift fleet, and 18% by the set-net fleet. Their harvest is forecasted at 7.5 million sockeye.
148,758 spawners made it past the counting towers in Egegik yesterday, bringing the season’s total escapement up to 958,068 fish so far. They are within their escapement goal of 800,000 to 2 million fish.
Overall, the total run for Egegik sits at 4,719,004 sockeye, and the forecasted inshore run is for 8.9 million fish.
Ugashik
Ugashik crews hauled in 307,411 fish yesterday; their season’s catch is 2,450,006 sockeye, with an average drift delivery of 1,653 sockeye. 90% of the catch was caught by the drift fleets, and 10% was caught by set-netters. The forecast predicts a surplus of 4.3 million fish for harvest.
48,516 fish were counted passing by the Ugashik towers, for a total escapement of 88,146 fish. Their escapement goal range is 500,000 to 1.4 million sockeye.
The Ugashik total run is 2,738,152 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 402 permits on 279 boats. That will decrease to 401 permits on 279 boats by Sunday, and the number of DBoats will go down from 123 to 122.
The Ugashik District has 242 permits on 163 boats, which will increase to 275 permits on 188 boats in the next 2 days. DBoats will go up from 79 to 87.
In the Naknek-Kvichak District, there are now 294 permits on 225 boats. That will increase to 313 permits on 239 boats by Sunday. DBoats will go from 69 to 74.
In the Nushagak, there are 656 permits on 461 boats. In the next 2 days, that will decrease to 616 permits on 439 boats. DBoats will move down from 195 to 177.
The Togiak District has 23 permits on 23 boats, which will stay the same in the next two days.
In total bay-wide, there are 1,617 active permits on 1,151 boats and 466 DBoats.
Chignik River Weir
At the Chignik River weir, 5,653 sockeye swam through the weir on Thursday, for a season total of 303,331 sockeye. 4,538 fish were part of the early run, and 1,115 fish were part of the late run.
Area M
Over in Area M yesterday, fleets harvested 181,855 sockeye for a season total of 3,074,507.
3 chinook were caught, their total season harvest is 1,319 thus far.
Fleets caught 231 chum on Thursday, for a total of 486,452.
And no pinks were caught the other day, their harvest 1,325,697.
1 Coho was caught on Thursday, their total is 503.
A total of 4,888,478 million salmon across all species have been caught in Area M so far this season.
Port Moller Test Fishery:
Yesterday’s numbers were very low, but Port Moller says not to worry, as they still estimate that there are plenty of sockeye between the transect and the districts.
For Port Moller catches on Thursday, no fish were caught at Stations 14, 18, and 20, and Stations 22 and 24 were not fished.
Station 2 caught 4 fish in the small net and 4 fish in the big net. That catch index is 17.
Station 4 caught 7 fish in the small net and 9 fish in the big net. That catch index is 34.
Station 6 caught 16 fish in the small net and 3 fish in the big net. That catch index is 41.
Station 8 caught 41 fish in the small net and 26 fish in the big net. That catch index is 115.
Station 10 caught 1 fish in the small net and 3 fish in the big net. That catch index is 9.
Station 12 caught 0 fish in the small net and 2 fish in the big net. That catch index is 4.
Station 16 caught 1 fish in the small net and 1 fish in the big net. That catch index is 4.
Overall, the average catch index for Thursday was 19. The average length of fish caught in the small mesh was 492mm, and 530mm for fish in the big mesh.
Get in touch at fish@kdlg.org.
