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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) […]Medvejie/Deep Inlet Update – August 28
7.5 million chum eggs taken at Medvejie through 27 August. Chum broodstock is beginning to pull in closer to Bear Cove with ~5,000 fish at the bottom of the ladder last night. 60,000 fish are estimated in Silver Bay and Bear Cove combined. These fish are scattered throughout with large concentrations in Bear Cove, off hydro effluent of Green Lake, and along the north shore between Green Lake and Bear Cove.
Deep Inlet also has some decent size schools of chum in the outer part of the THA. We will be assessing Deep Inlet today with the hope of collecting broodstock on Friday or Saturday. If we can get 20,000 to 30,000 we will tow the pens to Bear Cove and announce the reopening schedule. Right now, that is still a big IF.
Sex ratio at the rack yesterday was 62% male, not surprising at this early date in the spawning window.
Deep Inlet Broodstock Capture August 26
Efforts to capture broodstock at Deep Inlet were unsuccessful. Several sets were made, but only 500 chum were caught and rolled into net pens. It appeared there were few fish at the head of the inlet but we wanted to give it a try. There continue to be chum outside of Deep Inlet and scattered fish inside Deep Inlet but not in concentrations that are meaningful at this time.
We will continue to monitor and will capture the fish when given an opportunity. Egg takes continue today.
Deep Inlet/Medvejie Update August 26
Total eggtake is 5.5 million through yesterday. Broodstock numbers have not changed much at Medvejie. Most of the fish are in large schools but not pushing the fish ladder. There are many chum scattered in Bear Cove and out into Silver Bay. Estimate in the area is still about 40,000.
Scott and crew are headed out to Deep Inlet this morning with purse seiner Carlos on F/V Kalliste. If sufficient chum are present they will capture and roll into pens.
Reports continue to come in that there are large schools of chum around in Sitka Sound.
Medvejie Broodstock – Improving but not Secure, Yet
Eggtakes began Saturday and continued Sunday with a total of 5 million chum eggs. The broodstock picture is improving but not yet secure. The estimate for Medvejie/Bear Cove is 35,000 fish with another 25,000 around the corner at the outfall of the Green Lake dam in Silver Bay (these will likely come around to Medvejie). Deep Inlet fish are still scattered through the THA but no large schools at the head end.
It appears the chum coming into Deep Inlet continue to ‘visit’ and swirl back out to Eastern Channel. Troll and sport charter reports are very good with observations of thousands of chum in the Makhnati area and further out. They report a mix of sizes and conditions from bright to very dark, large males. The good news about our observations and analysis is that the fish we need for broodstock are here; what is frustrating is that the fish are not in any one place where we can efficiently collect them. I expect on the low end 100,000 left in the run; on the high end 250,000. Until we get the total 90,000 chum goal at Medvejie or in net pens we cannot risk opening the fisheries. The netpens are at Deep Inlet, we have a purse seine boat ready to go, and as soon as we have an opportunity we will secure the balance of what we need.
Warm water temperatures may be a factor in the fish not collecting at the head of Deep Inlet. The cooler, more voluminous waters of Medvejie and Green Lake dumping into Silver Bay may present conditions more favorable to holding the chum there. The modest storm we had Sunday seemed to help move the fish around and we expect to see further improvement today.
Medvejie Broodstock August 22
Deep Inlet has been closed for 5 days now but few fish have shown up at the head of the inlet. There were a few jumps yesterday but no small or large bodies of fish. The fish were either deep or not there. Medvejie/Bear Cove looks much better, with an estimated 45,000 chum. Chum eggtakes begin tomorrow and I will have another estimate by tonight.
Net pens are being towed to the head of Deep Inlet today and we will have a purse seiner at Deep Inlet this weekend or Monday. If there are fish the seiner will roll them into the net pens. However, if we don’t see fish we will conduct some test sets to determine if they are holding deep or truly not there.
I am confident we will get our broodstock, although it might not happen as quickly as we want. There were 13,000 chum caught on Saturday with a 50/50 sex ratio. Total catch for the week was 50,000. With those pieces of data and a 30-year run history, we know there has to be 100,000 or more fish left in the run.
Anxious but still optimistic.
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