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 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...
Read MoreJuly 29th-Return Update
Chum returns to our inside summer sites appears to have peaked and is beginning to wind down. Catches this week will likely be about half of last week at Thomas Bay, SE Cove and Hidden Falls but all are on track to meet or exceed our pre-season forecast. A first for the inside sites in many years. While the summer chum return to Deep Inlet is winding down, the fall chum return continues to show strong early numbers. The Deep Inlet net catches for chum last week quadrupled from week prior with an 80% male sex ratio on seine, gillnet and troll samples and are track to at least double again...
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