Third week of July fish report for Norton Sound and Kotzebue
Norton Sound
Crab
The commercial summer red king crab fishery closed at 6 a.m. Wednesday, July 20. The previous weekend catches had slowed to a crawl with the crabbers unable to get to their gear because of the storm. Based on catch rates last week the projected closure date was July 16, but with few crabbers able to get to their gear the crab deliveries slowed and the closure date was pushed back. The department expected that pots had been loading up with crab during the long soak time and announced on Monday afternoon the Wednesday morning closure attempting not to exceed the GHL and avoid exceeding the allowable biological catch (ABC). All commercial crab pots must be removed from the water by Wednesday, July 27. In the event of mechanical difficulties, and another vessel is needed to pull your pots, please notify Jim Menard at the Nome Fish & Game office in advance.
Salmon
Crews at the counting projects have been dreaming of pink salmon jumping over their bunks instead of sheep. So far this season Norton Sound pinks have been at near record levels and looking at historical numbers from long term counting projects the run may finish as the second or third highest on record. About one-third to one-half of the commercial fleet has been taking a break from fishing and waiting for the pink numbers to dissipate. The king run although projected to be weak in 2016 was even weaker than expected with escapement goals very unlikely to be reached. So far the chum run has been average, starting out strong, but becoming much weaker later indicating a good run of 5-year old chum and a poorer than expected run of 4-year old chum salmon. The department forecast for silvers is an above average run. Both pinks and silvers spend one year in the ocean so looking at the great run of pinks that makes this year’s silver run look promising. However, silvers are predominately 4-year old fish and noting that the 4-year old chum salmon did not fare well this year may be an indication that the cold winter of 2012-13 affected egg survival and the silvers also may not return as strong as expected. Recent warm winters bode well for egg survival and future salmon runs, particularly pinks that may continue to return in big numbers.
Unalakleet Subdistrict
Commercial Fishing: Fishing periods are being set in consultation with the buyer in regards to plant capacity handling the pinks.
Commercial catch this season is 105 sockeyes, 6,600 chums, 63,000 pinks and 20 silvers by 35 permit holders.
Subsistence Fishing: Open seven days a week. Beach seines restricted to 4 ½ inch or less mesh size. Any king salmon captured in beach seines must be immediately returned to the water unharmed. Through August 1, commercial fishermen may take salmon for subsistence purposes seven days per week in the Unalakleet River drainage with gillnets restricted to 4 ½ inches or less mesh size and beach seines.
Sport Fishing: Through August 15 the Unalakleet River drainage is closed to king salmon fishing and the use of bait is prohibited.
Unalakleet River Floating Weir – No escapement goals yet established – Cooperative project; Fish & Game, Native Village of Unalakleet, United States BLM and NSEDC. Major funding provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Office of Subsistence Management.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 500 kings, 500 sockeyes, 29,000 chums, 4.8 million pinks and 50 silvers. King counts have slowed recently and rank third highest for this date in the seven-year history of the project. Chum counts are second lowest. Pink counts had a record one-day passage of 895,000 fish on July 14. Last year’s record of 1.6 million pinks has been destroyed. The historical average third quarter point for king passage is July 18 and for chum passage is July 26.
North River Tower – Camp J.B. - Escapement goals: King 1,200-2,600; Chum-No goal established; Pink 25,000; Silver 550-1,100 (aerial survey goal) – Cooperative project; NSEDC with assistance from Fish & Game.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 500 kings, 9 sockeyes, 16,000 chums and 1 million pinks. The king count is three-quarters the 5 and 10-year averages, the chum count is the highest in the 21-year project history and the pink count is the third highest. The historical average third-quarter point for king and chum passage is July 21. High water resulting in counting being suspended on July 19.
Shaktoolik Subdistrict
Commercial Fishing: Fishing periods are being set in consultation with the buyer in regards to plant capacity handling the pinks.
Commercial catch this season is 115 sockeyes, 7,100 chums, 15,000 pinks and 1 silver by 17 permit holders..
Subsistence Fishing: Open seven days a week. Beach seines restricted to 4 ½ inches or less mesh size. Any king salmon captured in beach seines must be immediately returned to the water unharmed. Through August 1, commercial fishermen may take salmon for subsistence purposes seven days per week in the Shaktoolik River drainage with gillnets restricted to 4 ½ inches or less mesh size and beach seines.
Sport Fishing: Through August 15 the Shaktoolik River drainage is closed to king salmon fishing and the use of bait is prohibited.
Shaktoolik Tower – No escapement goals yet established – Cooperative project; NSEDC with assistance from Fish & Game.
Cumulative counts until late afternoon July 18 were 350 kings, 14,800 chums, 1.2 million pinks and 500 silvers. The tower has only been operational for the last three years. This year’s king count is the lowest and is two-thirds of last year’s count. The chum count is the lowest, trailing last year by 1,300 fish and over 2 ½ times lower than 2014. The pink count is the highest. High water resulted in tower counts being suspended and the sonar is now counting.
Norton Bay Subdistrict
Commercial Fishing: Until further notice no fishing on Wednesday and then a daily fishing schedule from 8 a.m. to midnight with gillnets restricted to 6 inches or less mesh size and 100 fathoms in length. Check with the buyer before fishing to make sure they haven’t suspended buying for one fishing period because of capacity concerns.
Commercial catch this season is 75 kings, 55 sockeyes, 7,000 chums, 10,000 pinks and 5 silvers by 12 permit holders.
Subsistence Fishing: Open seven days a week.
Inglutalik River Tower – No escapement goals yet established – Cooperative project; NSEDC with assistance from Fish & Game.
Cumulative counts through July 17 were 3,200 kings, 42,000 chums, 77,000 pinks and 700 silvers. For this date all counts are the second highest in the six year project history. Counting was suspended on July 18 when water levels rose 5 feet.
Elim Subdistrict
Commercial Fishing: Until further notice no fishing on Thursday and then a daily fishing schedule from 8 a.m. to midnight with gillnets restricted to 6 inches or less mesh size and 100 fathoms in length. Check with the buyer before fishing to make sure they haven’t suspended buying for one fishing period because of capacity concerns.
Commercial catch this season is 40 kings, 200 sockeyes, 4,800 chums and 20,000 pinks by 20 permit holders.
Subsistence Fishing: Open seven days a week.
Kwiniuk River Tower – Camp Joel - Escapement goals: King 250; Chum 11,500 – 23,000; Pink 8,400; Silver 650-1,300 (aerial survey goal). Fish & Game project with assistance from NSEDC.
Cumulative counts through July 16 were 126 kings, 7,800 chums, 1.4 million pinks and 3 silvers. The historical average 90% point of passage for kings and pinks is July 23 and for chums is July 20.
Golovin Subdistrict
Commercial Fishing: Until further notice no fishing on Tuesday and then a daily fishing schedule from 8 a.m. to midnight with gillnets restricted to 6 inches or less mesh size and 100 fathoms in length. Check with the buyer before fishing to make sure they haven’t suspended buying for one fishing period because of capacity concerns.
Commercial catch this season is 10 kings, 115 sockeyes, 4,900 chums and 10,500 pinks by 8 permit holders.
Subsistence Fishing: Open seven days a week.
Fish River Tower – No escapement goals yet established – Cooperative project; NSEDC with assistance from Fish & Game.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 800 kings, 6 sockeyes, 62,000 chums, 475,000 pinks and 6 silvers. This is the third year of the project. The king count is less than half of last year’s count and 15% below 2014. The chum count is in a little over half of last year and fading fast and the pink count is over double the even-year count in 2014.
Nome Subdistrict
Commercial fishing began on July 10 with a 24 hour fishing period. Fishermen have decided to take a break and wait for the majority of the pinks to get in the rivers before trying again.
Subsistence Fishing: Open seven days a week until August 1. Beach seines, cast nets and dip nets can only be used in the subsistence fishing areas listed on the back of the Nome Subdistrict subsistence salmon permit.
Sport Fishing: The pink salmon catch limit for the Nome River has been doubled to 20 fish per day.
Eldorado River Weir - Escapement goal: Chum 6,000 – 9,200 – Cooperative project; NSEDC with assistance from Fish & Game.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 2 sockeyes, 14,000 chums, and 5,000 pinks. The chum count for this date is fourth highest in the 20-year project history, but fading fast. The historical average 90% point of chum passage is July 23. The pink count is the lowest all time for an even-numbered year and an aerial survey of the Flambeau River showed a similar poor run of pinks.
Nome River Weir - Escapement goal: Chum 2,900 – 4,300; Pink 13,000 – Fish & Game project with assistance from NSEDC.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 1 king, 40 sockeyes, 3,200 chums, 250,000 pinks and 6 silvers. For this date the chum count is the second highest in the 24-year project history, but daily counts have been slowing. The pink passage is picking up and ranks fourth highest. The historical average midpoint of passage for pinks is July 20 and for chums is July 22.
Snake River Weir - Escapement goal: Chum 1,600 – 2,500 – A cooperative project between Fish & Game and NSEDC.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 9 sockeyes, 1,700 chums and 26,000 pinks. The chum count is slowing and for this date chum passage is the fifth highest in 20 years and pinks second highest. The historical average midpoint of passage for chums and pinks is July 21.
Solomon River Weir – No escapement goals yet established – Fish & Game project.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 1,000 chums, 42,000 pinks and 3 silvers. This is the highest chum passage for this date in the four year project history and pink passage is a record. The historical average midpoint of chum passage is July 22.
Port Clarence District
Subsistence gillnet and beach seining is open 7 days a week and sockeye salmon limits have been waived.
Pilgrims are answering the call to slow the red invasion. A record 451 Pilgrim River permits have been issued surpassing last year’s record of 377 permits issued.
Pilgrim River Floating Weir - Escapement goal (aerial survey at Salmon Lake & Grand Central tributary to Salmon Lake): Sockeye 4,000 – 8,000 –Cooperative project; NSEDC with assistance from Fish & Game.
Cumulative counts through July 18 were 26 kings, 8,400 sockeyes, 7,200 chums and 1,200 pinks. The sockeye passage for this date ranks ninth highest in 14 years of weir counts. The historical average midpoint of sockeye passage is July 18 and last year’s midpoint was July 22.
Kotzebue
Commercial fishing started on July 10. Catch for the first week of fishing was 22,000 chum salmon, a little more than half of last year’s harvest during the first week and fishing effort is down one-third compared to last year. Daily 8-hour fishing periods are scheduled with no fishing on Saturday. The buyer had to cancel Wednesday’s fishing period because of capacity issues at the Anchorage plant.
Kobuk River Test Fish - Fish & Game project.
The test net is expected to hit the water by July 20.
