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Sept 10th-Deep Inlet Update - Since closure of the Deep Inlet THA to common property fisheries on Aug 31st there has been minimal fall chum recruitment to the head of the inlet. On Tuesday and Wednesday this week we have secured approximately 5,500 fall chum at the head of Deep Inlet and are currently pushing the pens from Deep Inlet […]
Sept 4th- Deep Inlet Update - We continue to assess chum recruitment into Bear Cove and are getting closer to our fall chum brood stock goal. Recruitment is steady but has slowed with the recent shift back to sunny weather. NSRAA will attempt to collect chum brood from the head of Deep Inlet this weekend in order to assure we have […]
August 27th-Deep Inlet Closure - The Deep Inlet THA will close to common property fishing on August 31st due to fall chum brood shortages at Medvejie Hatchery. Currently there is an estimated 40,000 chum brood in Bear Cove. To complete fall chum egg takes an additional 50,000 brood are needed. There has not been a meaningful increase in chum brood […]
August 21st-Return Update - Fall chum returns to Sitka Sound and the Deep Inlet THA have remained strong since reopening the THA this past Saturday. In the past two weeks over a million fall chum have been harvested between the Sitka Sound common property troll/seine fisheries and the Deep Inlet openings. This week the total Deep Inlet chum return […]
August 13 – Deep Inlet Re-Opening Announcement - Deep Inlet has met the Cost Recovery goal this season. Deep Inlet will reopen Saturday, August 15th, with Troll and will continue with the standard rotation. An ADFG announcement will be posted shortly.
Deep Inlet to Re-open Saturday August 26th to Troll
NSRAA has moved sufficient chum salmon brood stock to Bear Cove/Medvejie hatchery, to allow the reopening of Deep Inlet on Saturday August 26th to troll. The regular 2023 Deep Inlet weekly net rotation will begin with seine on Sunday August 27th. On Wednesday August 23 NSRAA moved approximately 22,000 chum from the Deep Inlet THA to Bear Cove. An additional 10,000 fish were secured in net pens at the head of Deep Inlet. Thursday August 24th NSRAA is continuing to move fish to Bear Cove and secure additional fish in net pens at the head of Deep Inlet. Be aware that the net pens at the head of Deep Inlet will remain in place with fish in them for up to a week. Please exercise caution around the net pens at the head of the bay.
Cost Recovery is ongoing at Crawfish Inlet and West Crawfish. By end of Thursday we should be approximately 40% complete and have taken nearly 1 million pounds in the past 5 days. We anticipate this pace will continue for several days and are monitoring fish build in both West and Crawfish Inlet. A common property seine opening in West Crawfish may be warranted if numbers of fish maintain their current level during ongoing cost recovery. Last West Crawfish troll sample indicated 70% male, 82% 4-year old’s and 6.3lb average weight.
On the east side of Baranof Island this past week we have collected approximately 70k lbs of coho cost recovery between Mist Cove and Hidden Falls.
Deep Inlet Chum Brood Stock Closure Beginning August 19th.
NSRAA has requested that ADFG close the Deep Inlet THA to commercial fishing beginning on Aug 19th (Troll day) until further notice. It is our intention to complete brood stock collection by Aug 25th and reopen to Troll gear in the THA on Saturday Aug 26th. If brood collection proceeds quicker than anticipated NSRAA will reopen as soon as possible beginning with a troll day. If brood collection is slower than anticipated the closure will be extended until brood goals met. We will provide web updates daily on Deep Inlet chum brood collection progress.
As forecast, NSRAA continues to see very few Bear Cove bound fall chum salmon. For last week (wk 32), the total age 4 component of the Deep Inlet THA and Sitka Sound troll harvest was only 2%. Additionally we are estimating there are only 5k fall chum at Bear Cove currently. Our total pre-season brood stock goal is 110,000 fall chum and egg takes typically begin on Aug 21st. Fall chum returns to Deep Inlet have yet to show a build up towards the peak of the run. This is likely due to lower harvest effort in the THA as well as lack of chum volume in the sound. Charts below track difference in returns vs projections for Bear Cove and Deep Inlet 4 year olds.
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.
Sitka Sound Area Troll Closure
Despite the recent reduction in harvest effort for Sitka Sound and Deep Inlet, NSRAA remains concerned over the lack of Bear Cove four-year-olds returning to Medvejie in 2023. Preseason run projections indicated a severe shortage for this age class (likely due to juvenile black cod predation in spring of 2020) and in-season analysis reveals this to be true. Despite higher than anticipated 3-year-old survival, brood stock goals will depend on the larger females from brood year 2019. At the direction of the NSRAA board of directors, NSRAA staff requested ADF&G to issue the following non retention period in Sitka Sound.
“…the waters of the Sitka Sound Terminal Harvest chum salmon troll fishery (113-41) will be closed to troll gear during the 2-day troll fishery closure from 12:01 a.m., August 9, through 11:59 p.m., August 10, 2023. This closure is being implemented in order to meet chum salmon brood stock goals at the Medvejie Creek Hatchery. These waters will reopen to troll gear with the start of the second Chinook salmon retention period, 12:01 a.m., August 11, 2023. For all other troll hatchery chum salmon opportunities during the closure, refer to the August 4 troll advisory announcement.”
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