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Return Update-July 8th - NSRAA chum returns last week (stat week 27) seemed to flatline. There was minimal cost recovery completed in Deep Inlet and a moderate amount in SE Cove. The Hidden Falls chum weekly return last week took a slight dip to 50,000 from the previous stat week 26 return of 62,000. So far this week there […]
Return Update-June 25th - NSRAA chinook returns have been picking up the past several weeks with a total estimated harvest in Stat Week 25 of 1,341 adults. The spring chinook fisheries in the Sitka area have harvested over 2,000 Medvejie chinook making up 47% of the Sitka Sound area commercial troll harvest. Currently the return is looking like it […]
Gulf of Alaska Chinook Salmon do not warrant listing under Endangered Species Act - NOAA has concluded its 12-month scientific review to not list Chinook salmon in the Gulf of Alaska as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Action (ESA). PRESS RELEASE NMFS ESA Ruling
NSRAA Salmon Bake & Hatchery Tour - NSRAA will be offering hatchery tours and a BBQ lunch at Medvejie Hatchery on Saturday, June 27th. Lunch will consist of barbecued King Salmon, baked potato, green salad, rolls, watermelon and non-alcoholic drinks. Tickets are $15.00 per person- CASH ONLY and can be purchased during office hours at NSRAA- 1308 Sawmill Creek Road. (8-5 Mon-Fri) […]
Support Alaska Hatcheries at Board of Fisheries - Alaska Board of Fisheries Proposals. Your voice is needed. The board of fisheries will take up three hatchery proposals at the statewide meeting. Proposals 170, 171, and 172 seek to impose broad, preemptive reductions or moratoria on Alaska’s private nonprofit (PNP) salmon hatchery program without demonstrating a causal link between hatchery production and the specific […]NSRAA Scholarship Reminder
Each year NSRAA awards three $2500 scholarships.
Applications are due soon – check it out!
August 25th-Deep Inlet to reopen Tuesday August 26th
Cost recovery has been completed for Deep Inlet. The Deep Inlet THA will reopen starting Tuesday with the following rotation for this week(stat wk 35)-Tuesday-Troll, Wednesday-seine, Thur/Fri-gillnet, Saturday seine. Next week the Deep Inlet rotation will revert to the regular schedule of Sunday-seine, Mon-Wed-gillnet, Thur/Fri-seine and Saturday-troll. The ADFG announcement should be out shortly.
August 22-Deep Inlet Cost Recovery Progress Update
Based upon Friday morning Deep Inlet cost recovery progress, a Deep Inlet reopening announcement will not be issued at this time. At current harvest rates it is unlikely our cost recovery goal will be met by end of day Saturday. The next potential reopening announcement has been pushed back to Monday, August 25th and will be issued as soon as possible after Deep Inlet cost recovery has been completed. If there is a Monday announcement the Deep Inlet schedule would be Tuesday-Troll, Wednesday-seine, Thur/Fri-gillnet, Saturday seine. Our homepage Sitka Area Deep Inlet cost recovery progress bar will continue to be updated daily over the weekend.
Return Update-August 19th
Deep Inlet
Last week a total of 276,000 chum salmon returned to Deep Inlet. The majority of the harvest, 156,000, occurred in the pink salmon seine fishery in Eastern Channel. Troll harvest in Sitka Sounds also increased last week with approximately 60,000 chum harvested by 67 troll permit holders. An additional 35,000 chum were harvested for cost recovery. Seine, troll and cost recovery samples all indicated a greater than 50% male sex ratio with troll coming in the highest at 64%.
So far this week an estimated 80,000 chum have been harvested for cost recovery, bringing our progress to 80% of our cost recovery goal as of Tuesday afternoon. Cost recovery will resume Friday August 22 and there is a strong likelihood that the cost recovery goal will be met this coming weekend. A Deep Inlet THA reopening announcement will be issued as soon as the cost recovery goal is met. There will likely be a modified schedule for the first week of the reopening to maintain a 1:1 net ratio between seine and gillnet.
Crawfish Inlet
To date Crawfish Inlet has produced minimal chum cost recovery harvest. There are reports of chum outside of the Crawfish Inlet SHA in the Cedar Pass and Walker/Middle Channel areas. West Crawfish Inlet has not produced any troll harvest to date this season. West Crawfish Inlet will be open this Thursday for pink salmon seine harvest but as of today there does not appear to be large volumes of chum present. Next cost recovery harvest in Crawfish Inlet will be on Friday, August 22.
Coho
Coho harvest continues to remain steady but at a reduced rate from previous weeks. To date a total of 30,000 NSRAA coho have been harvested in troll and sport fisheries. The first coho cost recovery effort of the season was conducted at Mist Cove and Hidden Falls yesterday, Monday the 18th, with approximately 9,000lbs harvested at each site. While not a large cost recovery harvest this is one of the earlier starts to coho cost recovery for those sites.
Return Update-August 8th
Fall chum returns to Deep Inlet have begun this past week and are tracking along with our pre-season projections for the stat week. Gillnet harvest at Deep Inlet this past week was 25,000 chum and the seine chum harvest may top 100,000 by the end of harvest on Friday. Troll chum effort and catch increased this past week in Sitka Sound and approximately 15,000 have been harvested in stat week 32. There are reports that the troll chum catch dropped off in the last 24 hours with the change to rainy, windy, weather conditions in the sound. Total fall chum harvest for Deep Inlet for stat week 32 will likely be in the 150,000 fish range.
The Deep Inlet THA will remain open for troll through 11:59 p.m., August 9, at which time the THA will close to common property fishing for cost recovery. The Deep Inlet cost recovery harvest is currently 62% complete and cost recovery fishing will restart on Sunday, August 10th. Based upon fall chum run timing and run strength the THA may need to be closed for several weeks to fulfill the cost recovery goal. Once the cost recovery goal is complete the THA will reopen for common property fishing. NSRAA has projected a total return of 1.4 million fall chum to Deep Inlet.
Coho returns continue to be strong and above recent harvest averages for this date with Hidden Falls and Deer Lake leading the NSRAA coho projects. To date over 20,000 NSRAA coho have been harvested in troll and sport fisheries.
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