August 11th Return Update

This week the major news is the historic drop in chum salmon prices to .20 by most large processors (Chart for SEAK below) and the continued very large pink salmon seine harvest in SE Alaska. This combination of drop in chum price and increase in pink salmon abundance has led to greatly reduced seine effort in Deep Inlet. Effort in the Sitka Sound troll fishery and in Crawfish Inlet has also dramatically declined since Monday due to the drop in price. This drop in troll effort is also being exasperated by NSRAA’s request of the closure of Sitka Sound to chum retention during the Coho closure due to brood stock concerns at Bear Cove. We continue to have concerns for brood stock numbers for Bear Cove and continue to plan on closure of Deep Inlet to all harvest beginning on Saturday Aug 19 for Troll and from Aug 20th to Aug 25th for the net fisheries. We will continue to evaluate return numbers to Deep Inlet and Bear Cove over the weekend but barring some unlikely dramatic turn of events will work with ADFG to issue announcement early next week.

For the few troll fishermen sticking it out in West Crawfish Inlet with the low prices the catch has been very good and there are indications of a large push of chum moving into outer West Crawfish and towards the four corners area. Initial chum otolith samples from troll effort in West Crawfish indicate 90% male, 80% 4-year olds and 6.7lb average weight.  NSRAA will have cost recovery boats in Crawfish Inlet beginning Monday Aug 14th. I anticipate the rain forecast for this weekend will get harvestable numbers of chum moving through Cedar Pass and into the inlet. This will be the first cost recovery effort of the season in Crawfish Inlet.