Our Blog
July 23-Return Update - Since closing for cost recovery Deep Inlet summer chum returns have continued at a steady yet slow pace and the summer run will likely come in at 200,000 adults, the lower range of our pre-season forecast. Through July 23rd we have harvested 40% of our cost recovery goal and have seen a small uptick in […]
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) […]Deep Inlet to Open Wednesday – Troll; Thursday – Seine; & Saturday – Gillnet
Deep Inlet will open as per the ADF&G announcement that went out at 2 p.m. today. This week only Wednesday troll, Thursday seine 6 a.m. to 9 p.m, and Saturday gillnet 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Next week beginning Sunday (new stat week) return to published schedule.
We moved the 30,000 chum to Medvejie today starting at 6:45 a.m. with ETA of 5:45 p.m. tonight. Eggtakes improved today as the fish are pushing harder and ended with 3.7 million eggs, our best day this year at Medvejie. We expect to ramp up to 5 million per day soon.
Good luck in the re-opening and thanks for your patience and understanding while waiting for the fish to cooperate. Thanks to Carlos Schwantes and John Barry for capturing the brood fish at Deep Inlet.
Deep Inlet Update – late August 31
Eggtake total at 16.4 million eggs. Chum will be moved from Deep Inlet on Monday beginning at 6:30 a.m. If all goes well we will announce re-opening in late afternoon through ADF&G announcement. Still expecting to announce Wednesday troll, Thursday seine, and Saturday gillnet. Seine/gillnet will be 15 hours each to keep the week even. Look for update mid to late afternoon tomorrow.
Deep Inlet Progress for August 30 4:00 pm
2,000 additional chum captured at Deep Inlet today and continuing to work on collection (further update later tonight). Slower than hoped, but still lots of fish deep. Best case scenario is we finish today or Sunday and announce re-opening on Monday via ADF&G news release. When we decide I’ll put it on the web as soon as the decision is made. Department will get an announcement out quickly which will be the official notification. Remember, there are worse case scenarios as well and it may be some days before opening. I am just attempting to keep fishermen apprised of latest thinking.
Eggtakes ticked up just slightly today at Medvejie. We are at 14,000,000 eggs.
Deep Inlet Chum Caught and Rolled into Pens – 14,000
Finally, some significant success at Deep Inlet. Purse seiner caught 14,000 chum today and rolled them into net pens. We will continue the effort tomorrow and attempt to put 16,000 more fish away. Stay tuned we may be done by Saturday night.
Eggtakes went well today – 2.5 million. Expect an even better day tomorrow.
Deep Inlet Chum Building Slow
The survey of Deep Inlet was not encouraging yesterday. There was no major build up of chum at the head end or even in Aleutkina Bay as had been observed by a fisherman the previous day.
Eggtakes at Medvejie continue at a moderate pace with 1.5 million taken yesterday for a total of 9 million eggs. I expect after the big rain event predicted for today that the fish will begin pushing hard Saturday.
Aerial observations of Silver Bay yesterday revealed slightly lower numbers of chum than reported the day before. It could be the fish were down deep or perhaps moved. Nevertheless, schools of chum were seen throughout the bay, including the ‘cave’ and Sugarloaf. The Silver Bay estimate is between 50,000 and 60,000.
The plan is to continue observations and have the F/V Kalliste take a look at Deep Inlet on Saturday.
RSS - Posts
Recent Comments