Districts continue to bring in plenty of fish this week, with yesterday’s catch numbers higher than Sunday’s. The Nushagak hauls in most of the catch, and Ugashik/Egegik districts catch substantially more than they did on Sunday. With some districts passing preseason expectations–and others not quite reaching them–it’s fascinating to see how this season is shaping up to conclude.

Sunday’s baywide catch dropped under a million for the first time in almost a week. Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle pays his first visit to Wood Tikchik State Park, Biologist Travis Elison discusses the Naknek/Kvichak closure, and a Naknek resident uses that closure to launch a business.

The baywide catch on Thursday was less than half of Wednesday’s, signifying that we may be reaching the tail of the season. Set Netters are having trouble keeping their gear from drift boats. One Bristol Bay fisherman wants to be sure fishing boats are given funding as America's economy seeks to move towards renewable energy.

Numbers are starting to peak again as fishermen meet another big push across all districts. Crews in the Naknek/Kvichak reported well over 1 million fish being caught, and the Nushagak brought in over 800,000. The Kvichak River also takes the largest cumulative escapement yet this season, passing the Wood River at 4 million. Port Moller numbers are dropping, and they are determining whether they will produce any more stock compositions.

Fishermen throughout the bay continue to bring in steady numbers of fish, as crews across districts hauled in over a million fish yesterday. We get updates from biologists for both the West and East sides. Rick Thoman says what to expect in the cloudy skies on today's Weather Wednesday. Processing worker Jose Acuna shares how his season is going so far.

Monday’s baywide catch was over 900,000, with the numbers evening out across the districts. Excitement continues to build in the Kvichak river, with dozens of additional boats heading that way. The Kvichak river’s total escapement counts are climbing rapidly, catching up with the Wood river. Port Moller crews also estimate 42% of the next run of fish should be headed in that direction. Due to the recent drop in catch indices, they say there’s also indication of a bimodal run this season, meaning we might see another push of fish this summer.

Fleets on Sunday brought in 1.5 million fish, with numbers continuing to come in across the districts. A fisherman passed away in the Kvichak due to a gear entanglement. We received an update from the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development on marketing efforts to promote Bristol Bay sockeye.

Across the bay, fishing crews hauled in almost 2.6 million fish, the highest catch this season by far. A forecast from the University of Washington predicts a larger run with smaller fish. A total of 21 fishing violations have been reported by State Troopers. We hear more voices across Bristol Bay, some fishing and others processing.

The baywide catch yesterday topped a million for the first time this season, with a haul of 1.6 million fish. Nushagak fleets brought in about a third of those fish, followed by fleets in the Naknek/Kvichak and Egegik. Test fishery crews say they expect a push of Nushagak fish today and tomorrow with Kvichak fish to follow. Almost two thirds of the fish caught at Port Moller this season have been caught in the smaller mesh size, indicating smaller fish. That trend of smaller fish is expected to continue this season.

The baywide catch yesterday was 860,000, with over half of those fish coming from the Nushagak district. Northline's floating processor experienced an electrical fire, severely damaging one of their spiral freezers. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is limiting sport fishing for king salmon. We see how next week will look with another Weather Wednesday from Rick Thoman.