Fishing Schedules for Deep Inlet and Hidden Falls chum fisheries were finalized at the spring Board of Directors Meeting. Several documents have been posted on our website – both on the opening page and the FrontPage.
Information includes:
- Hidden Falls chum: forecast, fishing schedule (calendar), broodstock collection timing, Assessment Area Map. The assessment rate has been set at $0.10 per pound, pending state approval.
- Deep Inlet chum: forecast, fishing schedule (calendars), cost recovery and broodstock collection plan, SHA Map (Special Harvest Area = cost recovery fishing areas). Please note that given the 2016 cost recovery goal, there is a high likelihood of a Deep Inlet closure this season. This would occur in August, most likely some time during weeks 33-35 (August 7-27) and might last for 10 days or so depending on return strength and fish behavior. We plan to conduct as much of the harvest outside the THA as possible to minimize closure time.
Also of note this season is the first 4-year-old chum return to Southeast Cove. Although somewhat hard to predict with little historical data, our forecast is 166,000 fish, with a range of 83,000-248,000. Both the 3- and 4-year-olds returning this year were reared as 4.0 gram fry. Fishing in the THA will be restricted to cost recovery fishing this season.
Our other new chum project at Crawfish Inlet is in its second year of fry rearing. The first sizeable return there (4-year-olds from the initial 2015 fry release) will be in 2018. These fry were also reared as 4.0 gram fry.
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