Our Blog
Deep Inlet Notice
To Deep Inlet THA Fishery User Groups:
A reminder about boat traffic and anchoring near island homes in the Deep Inlet area.
Please review our plan:
Berry Island Resident Impact and Noise Reduction Plan
Hidden Falls Dock Update
Construction is moving along nicely on the Hidden Falls dock project. The gangway is under construction and won’t arrive on-site for awhile. In the meantime, the old gangway is being used for dock access. Much of the work on the ramp, pier and dock is complete and is already seeing some use.
What an amazing improvement from the old dock!
Pier construction 2013: framing
Pier construction 2013: decking
Pier construction 2013
Dock construction 2013: First vessel to dock at pier
Dock construction 2013: ramp
Dock construction 2013: ramp in use
Deep Inlet Return Over 2 Million and Climbing…..Slowly
Deep Inlet gillnet catch on Saturday was bigger than I expected with some 50,000 chum caught. Sunday’s seine catch looks to be about 50,000 also based on early catch reports. Seiners continue fishing chum today in common property areas of Sitka Sound and the gillnet fleet is back in the Deep Inlet THA.
Trolling is mostly done in Eastern Channel and Sitka Sound but not before the trollers harvested about 400,000 chum. Congratulations to the troll fleet.
Egg takes have started at Medvejie with over 8 million eggs taken over the weekend. Between this and the high female sex ratio in the fisheries the run is coming to a close. Some years the run doesn’t end until late September but this one feels like an early September end.
Deep Inlet Chum & Mist Cove Coho
Deep Inlet in-season forecast is 2.5 million chum, nearly double the preseason number. Last week saw 440,000 fish caught and may have been the peak, but the current week is already at 176,000 with only Sunday’s catch represented. Total return to date is 1.74 million, so we expect another 800,000 fish in the run. I would add this is probably conservative.
The Deep Inlet troll catch is dropping off rapidly, coinciding with the heavy rains on Saturday.The total troll catch is 410,000 and close to a new record. If it weren’t for the processor harvest limits and changes to price structure, a new record certainly would have been set. Nevertheless, the trollers had a great season on Deep Inlet chum.
The gillnet perspective is a little different due to the number of boats, estimated at 100 last week. Even though there were decent numbers going into the inlet the average catch is disappointing to many. The main body of chum stayed out in Sitka Sound for most of the past 3 weeks with only small schools pealing off into Deep Inlet. Total gillnet catch is 325,000 to date.
All NSRAA coho programs are showing high marine survivals, but Deer Lake/Mist Cove looks to be far out in front of Hidden Falls and the Sawmill Cove/Medvejie programs. The Deer Lake contribution is already at 70,000 and headed for a 15% marine survival. Hidden Falls contribution is 36,000.
Deep Inlet Second Run Heating Up
The early chum run (Hidden Falls stock) harvest came in at about 520,000, approximately double the forecast. The fall run harvest to date is roughly 250,000, although the data reporting runs behind actual catch somewhat.
The total catch last week was 130,000 fish; the trollers taking 75,000 of those with a fleet of ~50 boats, although the boat count this week is 70. Given the catch rates, it suggests there must be a large body of fish outside Deep Inlet THA from Biorka to Vitskari to Eastern Channel. In addition, even with good coho fishing near by, the chum troll fleet continues to grow. The troll and gillnet fleets are neck and neck for total season catch, each just over 160,000 since June. Early morning reports today suggest the trollers will blow by the gillnet catch this week. Catch limits for the seine fleet has influenced total catch in Deep Inlet and there is likely a latent opportunity waiting in Deep Inlet.
An August 4th sex ratio from a troll sample was 63% male, indicating the run is still in the early stages. Normal peak run timing is between August 15th and August 21st and it seems likely there is still a million chum left in the run.
The troll fleet is also doing quite well catching Hidden Falls and Deer Lake coho in districts 9, 12, 13, 14 and 16. So far trollers have caught about 60,000 NSRAA produced coho, with Deer Lake leading the pack at 40,000 to its credit. Deer Lake is on track to have a very big year.
UAS Fisheries Tech Program
UAS Fisheries Tech Program…
Our new Fisheries Technology distance education program is your next step to Alaska’s hottest jobs.
Our proven program makes graduates not just employable but highly desirable in one of Alaska’s fastest-growing career fields. We offer a proven program from a new home with quality instructors who know Alaska and its fisheries, classes that prepare you for the career you want, and an accredited degree that allows you to pursue further studies in the future. UAS Fish Tech graduates have continued on to bachelor’s degrees in fish tech and other fields.
UAS Sitka is the new home of the Fisheries Technology program for students all over Alaska. We currently offer a 32 credit Fisheries Technology certificate in either an emphasis in Fish Culture or Fisheries Management and a 60 credit Associate of Applied Science in Fisheries Technology degree. You can even start with one and move on to the other. Explore our program for yourself.
RSS - Posts
Recent Comments