Chum Return Update June 25, 2019

The summer run chum are off to a slow start from Ketchikan to Juneau to Sitka, although the Lynn Canal gillnet catch picked up on Monday after a slow start on Sunday. Seine and gillnet catches elsewhere were poor to non-existent on Sunday. DIPAC often has the earliest chums of the year in southeast so perhaps this is the beginning.

The runs at Southeast Cove and Hidden Falls will be evaluated for sex ratio and age on Friday, but in all likelihood both sites will be open on Sunday June 30. If the Hidden Falls run does not develop by next Sunday, it will need to be closed to protect broodstock. SE Cove on the other hand might remain open, and will be decided in consultation with Trident Seafoods who have the cost recovery contract for SE Cove SHA.

Some analysis and speculation: Prince William Sound is seeing good chum returns to all three of their sites. This is not usual as two of the release locations have under-performed for several years. Each of the PWS sites are ahead of their run curve, although fish are small (<6 lbs./average). Sometimes PWS is predictive of SE chum which are several weeks later in run timing, although 2019 doesn’t seem to be one of those years. So far in SE Alaska we are seeing normal size and healthy chum, just not many of them. Last week, the Homeshore troll fishery was the first indication of chum coming through the Icy Strait cooridor, although they didn’t show up in Lynn Canal until Monday.

Are the fish late, under forecast, or did they die at sea this past year? Given the new information in Lynn Canal, I’ll say late. If late, and DIPAC is any indication there should see a small uptick in harvest on Thursday at all the NSRAA sites.

Final thought: Some may have read that Dr. Dick Beamish, Department of Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO) organized an international effort this past winter to sample salmon in the vast areas of the North Pacific Ocean. Preliminary results were an abundance of skinny chum and sparse but robust sockeye in their sampling at multiple sample locations. Based on PWS chum return so far, it appears this Russian research cruise vessel got into the PWS chum at sea, but maybe not the SE chum. Much more information is pending as they conduct otolith and genetic analysis to determine origin of stocks.