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
July 15th-Return Update
This past week we have seen a large increase in chum harvest at all of our inside summer chum sites. This is very encouraging as up until this past week the chum catch had been substantially below forecast. Both SE Cove and Thomas Bay had a dramatic increase in catch this past week with more than a doubling of numbers and effort. On Tuesday we performed the 4th weekly Hidden Falls test fishing and saw a dramatic change from prior weeks with an average catch of 13,000lbs per set. Our current estimate is 10k adult chum inside the barrier net and we will begin spawning on Monday of next week. If we continue to see building of the chum volume in the inner bay, and corresponding building of volume offshore of Hidden Falls in the test fishing effort next week, it will indicate that our broodstock chum needs will likely be met. It is possible that a seine opening of a small portion of the Hidden Falls THA could occur in the last week of July. (Link to the Hidden Falls Test Fishing/CR fishing web page https://www.nsraa.org/?page_id=5448 )
Not only did we see a large increase in harvest at all our inside terminal areas, the Sunday, July 10th, Augusta seine opener and the July 12th Point Gardner test fishery saw large increases in chum harvest. The catch from this week at Gardner was more than double the recent 10 year average. We have read the July 10th Augusta chum otolith sample and a majority of those are bound for Hidden Falls, with smaller components bound for DIPAC, SE Cove and Thomas Bay. While the Hawk Inlet test fishery catch did not increase much last week the NSRAA portion of the chum increased ~10%. We are hoping to have the Gardner test fishing chum otolith sample data available early next week as a majority of these fish are likely bound for Hidden Falls. (Link to the NSRAA website with ADFG test fishing chum otolith information- https://www.nsraa.org/?page_id=5485 )
While chum returns on the inside have improved greatly the Deep Inlet chum return continues to be marginal but is coming in as predicted. There are signs that we are starting to see the early portion of the fall chum return in the Deep Inlet catch, with large, bright males starting to increase. We are also seeing a slight uptick in the male sex ratio and older aged chum in our weekly seine and gillnet otolith sampling. Historically the fall chum return begins to show up in larger numbers beginning at the end of July.
Lets hope these positive signs continue to develop over the weekend and into next week.
July 9th-Return Update
Chum returns through this Friday (July 8th) continue to be extremely weak. While we were not anticipating any strong summer chum returns to our project sites, the numbers to date are significantly behind our forecast for this date. Total cumulative combined summer chum catch to date, for all NSRAA return areas, is less than 20,000 fish. This is approximately 20% of the 2021 catch for the same time period. While there is always hope that it may be a late run, it is looking more and more likely that it is a late and weak run. This past week there have been increases in catch at all our terminal areas which is a good sign but none of the increases were substantial. Sex ratios on summer chum continue to suggest we are in the front half portion of the run, with recent samples at all sites above 60% male. We will need a large change to occur this coming week to even be able to approach our forecasted numbers on summer chum.
This past week we were able to get a sample of chum bycatch caught during the summer King salmon troll opener. From our samples obtained from the northern outside areas there are still a majority of summer chum out there, with the largest proportion being DIPAC, followed closely by Hidden Falls. This gives me some hope that we are still in the early portion of the return to Hidden Falls, as the first 3 weekly test fishing results have been very poor. Additionally, all the Hawk Inlet, Point Gardner and Kingsmill ADFG weekly test fishing results have been similarly dismal for both pinks and chum.
We will be sampling and watching the catch results closely from this Sundays seine openings at SE Cove, Thomas Bay and Augusta to see if the increasing chum catch trend continues. We are also going to be conducting our weekly Hidden Falls test fishing Tuesday morning. Based upon that information we will begin assessing if a closure for summer chum brood stock will be necessary. The location that could potentially be closed to harvest would be SE Cove, with the earliest closure beginning on Sunday July, 17th. We will be posting additional information on returns and on potential closures Wednesday of next week.
SILVER BAY TERMINAL HARVEST AREA TROLL FISHERY – CHINOOK SIZE REDUCTION
The Silver Bay THA (statistical area 113-35) commercial salmon troll fishery will open for the harvest of king salmon 26 inches and greater from 12:01 a.m., Saturday, June 18, through 11:59 p.m., Saturday, July 30, 2022, unless closed by emergency order. (5 AAC 33.375).
See advisory announcement here:
Medvejie Chinook Cost Recovery
NSRAA will be conducting Medvejie Chinook cost recovery harvest in the waters of Bear Cove. Fishing may occur at all hours of the day from Thursday through Sunday, through early July. Fishing will be conducted by contracted seine or gillnet vessels and effort will be concentrated near the hatchery. Sport fishing will remain open and anglers should be vigilant of cost recovery activity in the area during these times . For questions, call the NSRAA office at 747-6850.
NSRAA Salmon Bake & Hatchery Tour
NSRAA will be offering hatchery tours and a BBQ lunch at Medvejie Hatchery on Saturday, July 16th. Lunch will consist of barbecued King Salmon, baked potato, green salad, rolls, watermelon and non-alcoholic drinks. Tickets are $15.00 per person- CASH or CHECK ONLY and can be purchased during office hours at NSRAA- 1308 Sawmill Creek Road. (8-5 Mon-Fri)
We are providing two tours on Saturday for you to choose from.
Tour 1
9:00am – 12:15pm
Tour 2
12:30pm – 4:00pm.
Transportation to and from Medvejie Hatchery will be provide by Allen Marine. Our port of departure/arrival is Crescent Harbor.
Boats depart promptly at 9 and 12:30 so don’t be late!
Space is limited on each tour and masks must be worn on the boat.
Physical ticket will be needed to board & no refunds.
This will be a great chance to see King Salmon returning to the hatchery, and to hear about our fisheries enhancement program.
We hope you can join us!
For more information, call 747-6850.
RSS - Posts
Recent Comments