Sept 2-Return Update
Fall chum returns continue to taper after peaking over the past 2 weeks. Deep Inlet and Bear Cove returns are now a combined 112% of forecast and this week topped a total return of 2 million chum. The trollers continue on their record setting harvest and are now tantalizingly close to one million troll caught chum, between Deep Inlet and Crawfish Inlet returns, with a total of 970k chum harvested (820k DI & 150k CI). While the trollers have been in record setting territory for several weeks, breaking the million mark would be a historic milestone. Based upon the dwindling numbers of...
Read MoreAug 29th-Return Update
Cost recovery continues at Crawfish Inlet and we have approximately 42% left to harvest. We made good progress over Friday and Saturday at CI and harvested nearly 20% of the goal. The male sex ratio is holding high in the cost recovery samples and last sample taken from Saturdays harvest was 65% male. We have been seeing a high 3-year old percentage at CI and that is maintaining at 35% of the harvest in recent samples. We will continue cost recovery fishing at CI Monday (8/29) through Wednesday (8/31). It is very unlikely that there will be a Thursday seine opening for CI as the...
Read MoreAug 19th-Return Update
The Deep Inlet fall chum return continues to come in strong. The past rain event took the bite off for the trollers but they continue adding to their record breaking harvest. Trollers have harvested over 740k chums between Deep Inlet and Crawfish with 650k of that coming from Sitka Sound. The current stretch of nicer weather could help to improve the catch for the trollers. The catch and effort in West Crawfish picked up the last few days with over 35 boats fishing in West Crawfish Friday morning. This will likely be the peak week for Deep Inlet with a combined gear harvest of approximately...
Read MoreAug 16th-Return Update
This past weekend chum trollers have blown the previous harvest number records including: total chum troll harvest, weekly troll harvest, and total chum value to the troll fleet. Through Tuesday trollers have harvested over 600k chum from Sitka sound and another 80k from West Crawfish Inlet and Crawfish Inlet. The ~700k so far this year eclipses last years record harvest of just under 600k troll caught NSRAA chum. Last week (wk33) the trollers harvested a record 312k Sitka Sound chum. In all the total value to the troll fleet is now $5.9m. The recent poor weather seems to have reduced the...
Read MoreAugust 5-Return Update
The big news this week is the tremendous success trollers targeting chum salmon in Sitka Sound are having. Effort and catch rates began increasing last week and have continued to increase this week. Last week trollers ended up harvesting over 70k chum salmon and are on track to potentially top 150k this week, with a combined harvest of approximately 200k chum so far this season. The 2021 season was a record chum harvest for trollers in Sitka Sound with just over 500k harvested. Last year through stat week 32 (current stat wk) trollers had harvested 17k chum. This year chum trollers in...
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