Nushagak District

The Skipper Science Program is in its third year in Bristol Bay and fishing crews are taking notice. User numbers are up on the app in the fishery and this season, the citizen science initiative could be more consequential than ever. The goal is to find out where exactly King salmon are running, with the Nushagak King mapping project.

The board voted unanimously to adopt a plan that curbs fishing time when larger sockeye runs are forecast. The Nushagak River’s king salmon runs have declined sharply in recent years even as huge sockeye returns to the district have broken records.

The Board of Fisheries and members of the public discussed the state’s action plan to protect Nushagak kings on the second day of the statewide meeting Saturday. Many people who testified discussed how many sockeye should go unharvested in order to conserve the struggling king runs.

The statewide Board of Fisheries meeting is underway in Anchorage. The board will decide whether and how to change fishing regulations in Bristol Bay’s Nushagak District to protect its faltering king salmon runs.

The Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute will begin a study on mesh selectivity in early June.What is the best size mesh to catch a Nushagak…

Ugashik put away another 400,000 sockeye Saturday, while Naknek-Kvichak and Nushagak catches tapered off a little. Now the number everyone is wondering…

Ugashik put away 400,000 fish yesterday, and one tender says it was the best day yet in that district. Naknek-Kvichak still going. Plus, a genetics guy…

Another two million on the books yesterday, and Area Management Biologist Travis Elison speculates on how long catches’ll stay at that level. And, we…