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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 […]

June 21st, Weekly Return Update

Posted by Scott Wagner on Jun 21, 2024 in front page, news | Comments Off on June 21st, Weekly Return Update

This past week summer chum returns to Hidden Falls and Deep Inlet continue to be strong and the first reported harvest at SE Cove which is tracking on the historical high side of return numbers for current stat week. Hidden Falls and Deep Inlet continue to be majority 4-year-olds making up over 79% of harvest at Hidden Falls and over 90% for Deep Inlet. Hidden Falls will have an estimated 75K total adult chum harvest this week and Deep Inlet will come in around 100k after today’s seine harvest is complete. The chum harvest at Hidden Falls this stat week will be the third highest on record since the beginning of the program.

Sunday’s Pt Augusta chum harvest otolith information indicated 52% Hidden Falls bound chum and 30% DIPAC chum. The remaining sample was 12% Thomas Bay, 4% SE Cove and 1% for Gunnuk Creek. As with most sites Augusta harvest was heavy on the 4-year-olds which made up 74% of catch and a 68% male ratio.

Cost recovery harvest is beginning today (Fri 6/21) at Hidden Falls and will begin Saturday at Bear Cove and head of Deep Inlet. Hidden Falls cost recovery will be in inner Kasnyku Bay behind our barrier net as well in outer Kasnyku. Lines for common property seine Sunday at Hidden Falls will be the same as Thursday’s opener. Deep Inlet proper will remain closed until cost recovery is completed which will likely be mid-July.

Deep Inlet Cost Recovery Closure Reminder-June 19th

Posted by Scott Wagner on Jun 19, 2024 in front page, news | Comments Off on Deep Inlet Cost Recovery Closure Reminder-June 19th

Reminder that Deep Inlet proper from the neck to the head is currently closed to common property fishing to allow for cost recovery harvest. The line coordinates are covered in the April 25th ADFG Advisory Announcement. Excerpt below of the relevant coordinates and Full Advisory Announcement may be found here- ADFG Terminal Harvest Area AA 4/25/24

June 14th, Weekly Return Update

Posted by Scott Wagner on Jun 14, 2024 in front page, news | Comments Off on June 14th, Weekly Return Update

This week summer run chum return numbers to Deep Inlet are rapidly increasing. Last week things began to look promising as the Gillnet chum harvest was over 3,500 fish. This overall isn’t a large number but when put in context is more than double the previous stat week record in 2015 of 1,500 fish. This week will blow the previous record out of the water and we may be on track to break 50,000 chum harvest for stat week 24, previous record was 10,800. This will be 5 times the previous 2015 stat week record and begins to put us on track for the high end or our pre-season forecast. While it is still very early in the summer chum return, things are looking very encouraging that the return will come in above our pre-season forecast of 1.4 million chum salmon returning to Deep Inlet and Bear Cove. Of the Deep Inlet chum harvest to date there is a roughly 50/50 split between chum bound for Deep Inlet and Bear Cove which also tracks with our pre-season forecast.

Now the million fish question for Deep Inlet is whether the summer chum run is early, early and large, or just large. The next week or two will answer that question for Deep Inlet.

This Sunday will be the first seine opening at Hidden Falls, SE Cove and Thomas Bay. At Hidden Falls we have several thousand chum already on the barrier net and some scattered schools in Kasnyku Bay. This is the earliest we have seen this number of chum in many years. There are also reports of fish in the outer Hidden Falls THA and also some working their way down Catherine Island. The Sunday seine opener will shed some light on if the Hidden Falls return will follow the strong early return we are currently seeing at Deep Inlet. SE Cove and Thomas Bay summer chum returns tend to come in a week or so after the Hidden Falls returns start and we do not have any reports of chum building in those THA’s yet.

Mid next week we will likely begin cost recovery harvest in Bear Cove and the head of Deep Inlet. Cost recovery harvest will continue in these areas at least up until July 1^st when we will begin cost recovery harvest in the Eastern Channel/Silver Bay Special Harvest Area (SHA). We will continue to have rotational fisheries in the Deep Inlet THA as we conduct cost recovery fishing. Please be prepared to see recovery boats fishing in the SHA concurrently with the rotational fisheries in the THA. This SHA is from Cape Burunof to Sentinel Rock, all of Eastern Channel and up Silver Bay past Bear Cove. If we can fulfill our cost recovery goals outside of the Deep Inlet THA a closure of the THA is not warranted. You can track our Deep Inlet cost recovery goal progress (and all other cost recovery efforts) on the home page of our website.

Good luck fishing this weekend things may get interesting.