2017 Inseason Alaska Commercial Salmon Summary

This summary provides management, harvest, and escapement information for the Alaska commercial salmon fishing season. This summary will be updated each Friday between mid-May and September. Please note, inseason harvest data published in this summary are preliminary and subject to change. For more information on the Blue Sheet, inseason summaries, and harvest timing charts, please see our Blue Sheet, Inseason Summary, and Harvest Timing Charts Overview page.

Updated Friday, August 18, 2017

Southeast Alaska
ADF&G Announces Non-retention of Chinook Salmon for Commercial and Recreational Fisheries Throughout Southeast Alaska Supporting Document - Basis for the Southeast Alaska Closure to Chinook Salmon Retention (PDF 194 kB) Troll Fishery Regional power troll coho catch rates for the past week have declined to 80 coho per day, with the highest catch rates in the Central Inside and Northern Inside areas. Through August 17, the seasonal average weight of coho is 4.8 pounds, which is below the 2016 average of 6.1 pounds, and the 5-year and 10-year averages of 5.6 and 5.7 pounds, respectively. The average price is currently $1.52 per pound, and the cumulative catch since July 1 is just over 1.4 million coho for 5,380 landings by 833 permits. The department will continue to closely monitor abundance indicators as the season progresses and will take appropriate action should the run fail to develop as expected. Troll effort and harvest in Sitka Sound targeting enhanced chum salmon returning to the Deep Inlet THA has decreased this week. Based on fish tickets received through August 17, the cumulative catch for weeks 30-33 is 119,400 chum salmon for 462 landings by 107 permits, and the average catch per day during these weeks is 182 chum per day. The average weight for chum is 8.7 pounds, and the average price is $0.85 per pound. Based on fish tickets received through August 17, trollers in the West Behm Canal/Neets Bay THA area caught approximately 226,300 chum salmon, with a current average weight of 10.0 pounds and an average price of $0.85 per pound. There have been 988 landings by 93 permits in this fishery. The waters of West Behm canal remain open to troll gear, and Neets Bay reopened to trollers west of the easternmost tip of Bug Island on August 2 as waters of the general summer troll fishery. The 2017 Summer Troll Management Plans can be found on the troll website. Inseason catch and effort data for summer is available on the same site. Purse Seine Fishery The 2017 Southeast Alaska common property purse seine fishery is now in its ninth week. Regional cumulative harvest estimates for purse seine gear as of August 11 are 20.4 million pink and 3.9 million chum salmon. During statistical week 33, fishing occurred on August 13 and on August 16-17. Seine effort during the August 12-13 fishing period included 68 boats in Section 9-B, 50 in Section 13-A, 33 on the West Admiralty Island shore, 28 in Deep Inlet THA, and 20 boats each in District 4 and Point Augusta. Total estimated harvest for the fishing period was 3.6 million salmon. The largest harvests occurred in Section 9-B with 969,000 salmon harvested, followed by Section 13-A with 767,000 salmon, West Admiralty Island shore with 316,000 salmon, Southwest Admiralty shore with 298,000 salmon, Point Augusta with 217,000 salmon, and District 4 with 208,000 salmon harvested. Pink salmon harvest per boat was highest in Hidden Falls THA and Southwest Admiralty Island shore with 17,100 fish per boat, followed by Section 13-A with 15,000, Section 9-B with 14,000, District 5 with 12,100, Tenakee Inlet/Basket Bay with 10,700, and Point Augusta with 10,400 fish per boat. The seine opening on August 16 included portions of Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14. Harvest information for this opening is not available at the time of this update. The preseason pink salmon harvest forecast for 2017 is 43 million fish with a range of 27-59 million. Pink salmon harvest to date projects a total harvest for Southern Southeast Alaska districts of less than 10 million and in Northern Southeast Alaska districts, 25-28 million fish. By statistical week 33, on average, pink salmon harvest in Southern Southeast districts is 71% complete and in Northern Southeast districts pink salmon harvest is 80% complete. In general, pink salmon escapement and harvest are below average in Southern Southeast districts and in Northern Southeast districts, escapement varies by district from below to slightly above average and harvest is above average. For further harvest information by gear type see Southeast Inseason Harvest by Gear webpage. Drift Gillnet Fishery Traditional Southeast area drift gillnet fisheries occur in Districts 1, 6, 8, 11, and 15. Tree Point/Section 1-B The Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery was open for four days, in statistical week 33, starting at 12:01 p.m., Sunday, August 18, 2017. Harvests of chum salmon were average and harvests of all other species were below average. The effort level of 25 vessels was below the 10-year average of 36 vessels. The weekly harvest estimate is 5 Chinook salmon, 1,200 sockeye salmon, 900 coho salmon, 38,000 pink salmon, and 6,000 chum salmon. The Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery is currently being managed according to the District One Pink Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 33.360). It is anticipated the District 1 purse seine fishery will receive two days of fishing time in statistical week 34, therefore the Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery will open four days, beginning at 12:01 p.m., Sunday, August 20. For further details concerning this fishery, please see the 2017 Southeast Alaska drift gillnet fishery management plan.(PDF 533 kB). Stikine and Prince of Wales/Districts 6 and 8 Management focus of the Districts 6 and 8 gillnet fishery for stat week 33 was based on pink salmon abundance. Both districts opened for 72 hours beginning on Sunday, August 13. Participation was above average in District 6 with above average pink salmon harvest. Pink salmon harvest in District 8 was average with below average participation. For the time of year, escapements in District 8 are on track to meet target escapement ranges. However, escapements to systems in District 6 appear to be lagging during these early weeks of assessments. Management emphasis will transition from pink salmon to coho salmon abundance starting in September. Both districts will open for a 72-hour period beginning Sunday, August 20. The final Stikine River sockeye salmon inseason assessment produced a run size of 130,000 fish and escapement goals are projected to be achieved. Sockeye salmon escapement to local systems will be assessed in early September. Taku-Snettisham/Section 11-B The week started off at an exciting pace with a significant movement of Speel Lake sockeye salmon through the weir in a short time period - 1,665 fish in 24 hours - resulting in an area extension in the entrance of Port Snettisham and the rescinding of the six-inch minimum mesh size restriction south of Circle Point. Anticipation was high that fish would continue to progress through the weir at a steady clip and once the escapement goal appeared "in the bag", the Speel Arm Special Harvest Area (SHA) would be opened to allow opportunity to harvest Snettisham Hatchery sockeye salmon that have been building up in Speel Arm. Alas, the movement of fish through the weir slowed significantly in the past couple of days and it became apparent that an opening into the SHA was not in the cards this week. Approximately 45 boats fished in District 11 throughout the week with many heading down to the entrance of Port Snettisham to make a set or two on Tuesday only to head back north to the much more productive fishing nearer the Taku River. This is officially the last week of sockeye salmon management in the District 11 fishery, but reds were on everyone's mind as there still appear to be plenty of Taku River fish around and access to the Speel Arm SHA is looming. The most current Taku River sockeye salmon inriver run size projection puts total escapement above the upper end of the goal range with approximately 90% of the run historically through Taku Inlet at this point in the season. Current total sockeye harvest in District 11 is approaching 100,000 fish in the traditional (non-hatchery) fishery which is just ever so slightly below the recent ten-year average harvest of 103,000 fish. Coho salmon catch rates in District 11 are off to an average start and the first inseason Taku River inriver run size projection is approximately 72,000 fish, right in the middle of the escapement goal range, but well below the forecast of 117,000 fish. The silver scene is just starting to unfold in inside waters though, and much is left to develop. The District 11 drift gillnet fishery will again open for three days in Section 11-B next week with the entrance to Port Snettisham remaining part of the mix and the mesh restriction south of Circle Point removed. Department staff will be surveying the fishery as usual throughout the opening and a minimum of six-hours of notice will be given both on the grounds via VHF radio and in the form of a news release prior to any fishing opportunity inside the Speel Arm SHA. Lynn Canal/District 15 In Section 15-A the drift gillnet fishery will be open for two days beginning Sunday, August 20th. As of August 18th, the sockeye escapement to Chilkoot Lake was 36,000 fish, above the cumulative lower bound of the goal for this time period. With an average of about 90% of the Chilkoot sockeye salmon run in the river by this time, the escapement projection is currently just above goal. The Chilkat Lake sockeye return is above average, and with about 37% of the run through the weir the final escapement is projected to be within the escapement goal range. The cumulative sockeye salmon catch in the Chilkat River fish wheels is about 70% of the average. The pink salmon catch on the fish wheels is about twice the average. With the majority of the Chilkoot Lake sockeye salmon thorough the fishery, the eastern shoreline Section 15-A will open again this week. In Section 15A gillnet fishing will be limited to two days, south of the latitude of Seduction Point and south of the Glacier Point/Twin Coves line in Chilkat Inlet. The gillnet fishery in Section 15-C will be open for one day south of the latitude of Point Bridget. The focus of the 15-C fishery has shifted from the harvest of enhanced chum salmon to the harvest of surplus wild sockeye salmon as the chum salmon return tapers off. The harvest for the two day opening in statistical week 33 (August 14 to August 16) is estimated to be 5,700 chum salmon, 2,000 sockeye salmon, no Chinook salmon, 3,000 pink salmon, and 250 coho salmon. The harvest of sockeye salmon is about 11% of the proceeding 10-year average, while the chum salmon harvest is about 70% of the proceeding 10-year average and the pink salmon harvest is 11% of the average. An estimated 40 boats participated in the fishery, about one half of the average number. The cumulative harvest of chum salmon this year is about 1.49 million fish, close to 1.5 times the average, and well above projected common property share of the hatchery produced chum salmon. The cumulative sockeye salmon harvest is 29,000 fish, about 25% of the average, while the cumulative Chinook salmon harvest of 1,100 fish is 1.2 times the average. The cumulative pink salmon harvest of 161,000 fish is about 83% of the average. Yakutat Area Set Gillnet Fishery Due to minimal fishing effort in the Alsek River, the fishing period was extended by one day. Fewer than three permits fished the Alsek River and harvest information is confidential. Fishing effort in the East River is also dropping off. This week, five permits harvested less than 200 sockeye salmon. Chum and pink salmon are starting to dominate the fishery. An aerial survey conducted on the East/Doame River system exhibited strong sockeye salmon escapements and 21,000 fish were counted. In the Situk-Ahrnklin Inlet, 39 permits harvested nearly 1,100 sockeye, 600 coho, and 11,000 pink salmon. In Yakutat Bay, eight permits harvested just less than 800 sockeye, 265 coho, and 1,600 pink salmon. The Akwe and Dangerous rivers, as well as the Manby Shore fisheries were opened but not fished. The Yakataga District was open, but not fished this week. The Tsiu River remains closed, but may open on short notice when some coho salmon escapement has been observed. The Italio River systems may open by emergency order when escapement counts have been observed. With the exception of the East River, which is still targeting sockeye salmon, most other fisheries in the Yakutat Area will now be managed for coho salmon. The Situk River weir has been removed for the season. The final count for large Chinook salmon was 1,188 fish and the BEG was achieved and exceeded. This is the largest Chinook salmon escapement recorded in the recent decade. There were 91,000 sockeye salmon counted through the weir and the BEG was attained and exceeded. The weir is removed before the end of the pink salmon run. A cumulative count of approximately 264,000 pink salmon was recorded by the time the weir was dismantled and the BEG was well achieved. The preseason forecast for the Canadian weir on the Klukshu River was 1,400 Chinook salmon (Alsek: 5,500 fish) which indicated the run would be below average. There were 400 Chinook that passed through the weir. Current assessment information suggests that the Chinook return to the Klukshu River will be below the lower end of the BEG range (800-1,200 fish). The preseason forecast for Klukshu sockeye salmon is 17,000 fish (Alsek: 74,000 fish) which suggests the run will be above average. Roughly 1,100 sockeye salmon have been counted through the Klukshu River weir; it is too early to tell if the BEG will be attained. Terminal Harvest Area (THA) Fisheries Terminal Harvest Area (THA) gillnet fisheries occur in Nakat Inlet, Neets Bay, Anita Bay, Deep Inlet, and Boat Harbor. THA seine fisheries occur in Neets Bay, Kendrick Bay, Anita Bay, Deep Inlet, and Hidden Falls. Anita Bay THA At the time of publication, approximately 9,000 Chinook and 139,000 chum salmon have been harvested in Anita Bay. The 2017 preseason forecast for Anita Bay coho salmon is 20,100 fish. A rotational fishery began on June 13 for gillnet and purse seine gear groups and changed to a time ratio of two to one on July 31. This rotational fishing schedule will conclude on August 31 when the THA opens to all gear groups concurrently until 12:00 noon, November 10. For further information and updates on SSRAA contributions and updates visit the SSRAA website . Boat Harbor THA The inside area of the Boat Harbor Terminal Harvest Area will remain open until further notice. The inside area is defined as the inside waters of the Boat Harbor THA west of the department markers at the entrance of Boat Harbor. The outside area of the Boat Harbor THA will no longer be open as a separate area. Deep Inlet THA The Deep Inlet THA rotational fisheries began on May 28 and chum management began on June 18; with seine openings on Sunday, Thursday and Friday; and gillnet openings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Forecast returns for Deep Inlet THA and Medvejie Hatchery includes 1,355,000 chum salmon, 22,700 Chinook salmon, and 52,000 coho salmon. This season, 90,000 chum salmon are needed for broodstock, and up to 386,000 chum salmon are needed for cost recovery, depending on price. Harvest from the week 33 gillnet openings was approximately 40,000 chum salmon; harvest from the seine opening on August 13 was approximately 165,000 chum salmon. Harvest to date from the combined rotational fisheries is 2,370 Chinook and 505,000 chum salmon. The Deep Inlet THA will close to all common property commercial harvest beginning after the troll period on August 19, to facilitate collection of cost recovery chum salmon; the THA will reopen following the completion of cost recovery. Hidden Falls THA Forecast returns for Hidden Falls THA includes 510,000 chum salmon and 197,000 coho salmon; no Chinook salmon are expected to return in 2017. NSRAA needs 190,000 chum salmon for broodstock leaving 320,000 chum salmon available for common property harvests. Purse seine openings began June 18. Chum salmon harvest from the Hidden Falls THA to date is approximately 197,000 fish. Additionally, due to a low forecast of chum salmon returns, there will be no tax assessment in the HFH THA. Kendrick Bay THA The forecasted return for Kendrick Bay summer chum salmon is 842,000 fish. Kendrick Bay opened to the harvest of salmon by purse seine gear on Thursday, June 15, 2016. The Kendrick Bay harvest of chum salmon through statistical week 32 is 642,000 salmon, or 74% of the forecasted return. This total includes 440,000 chum salmon harvested by purse seine gear and 39,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet gear in the traditional fishery and 132,000 chum salmon harvested in the THA. For further information and updates on Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) contributions and updates visit their website at SSRAA website. Nakat Inlet THA The forecasted return of Nakat Inlet summer chum salmon is 226,000 and for fall chum salmon is 96,800. Nakat Inlet opened to the harvest of salmon by drift gillnet and troll gear on Thursday, June 1, 2017. The Nakat Inlet harvest through statistical week 32 is approximately 237,000 chum salmon, or 105% of the summer forecast. This total includes 114,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet gear and 15,000 chum salmon harvested by purse seine gear in the traditional fishery and 107,000 chum salmon harvested in the THA. For further information and updates on Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) contributions and updates visit their website at SSRAA website. Neets Bay THA The Neets Bay forecasted return for summer chum salmon is 1,320,000 fish, for fall chum salmon is 212,600 fish, for Chinook salmon is 22,200 fish, and for coho salmon is 254,800 fish. Neets Bay opened to the harvest of salmon by Drift Gillnet and Purse Seine on Monday, May 1, and has a rotational fishery between Drift Gillnet and Purse Seine through June 26, 2017. The Neets Bay harvest of chum salmon through statistical week 32 is approximately 1,323,500 salmon, or 100% of the summer forecast. This total includes 243,000 chum salmon harvested by purse seine gear, 80,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet gear and 225,000 chum salmon harvested by troll gear in the traditional fishery and 7,500 chum salmon harvested by purse seine, 3,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet, 115,000 chum salmon harvested by troll gear, 150,000 chum salmon harvested for broodstock and 500,000 chum salmon harvested for cost recovery inside the THA. The harvest of Chinook salmon in the Neets Bay THA through statistical week 32 is 1,750 salmon by drift gillnet gear and 2,200 salmon by purse seine gear. For further information and updates on Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) contributions and updates visit their website at SSRAA website.

Southeast Alaska

ADF&G Announces Non-retention of Chinook Salmon for Commercial and Recreational Fisheries Throughout Southeast Alaska

Supporting Document - Basis for the Southeast Alaska Closure to Chinook Salmon Retention (PDF 194 kB)

Troll Fishery

Regional power troll coho catch rates for the past week have declined to 80 coho per day, with the highest catch rates in the Central Inside and Northern Inside areas. Through August 17, the seasonal average weight of coho is 4.8 pounds, which is below the 2016 average of 6.1 pounds, and the 5-year and 10-year averages of 5.6 and 5.7 pounds, respectively. The average price is currently $1.52 per pound, and the cumulative catch since July 1 is just over 1.4 million coho for 5,380 landings by 833 permits. The department will continue to closely monitor abundance indicators as the season progresses and will take appropriate action should the run fail to develop as expected.

Troll effort and harvest in Sitka Sound targeting enhanced chum salmon returning to the Deep Inlet THA has decreased this week. Based on fish tickets received through August 17, the cumulative catch for weeks 30-33 is 119,400 chum salmon for 462 landings by 107 permits, and the average catch per day during these weeks is 182 chum per day. The average weight for chum is 8.7 pounds, and the average price is $0.85 per pound.

Based on fish tickets received through August 17, trollers in the West Behm Canal/Neets Bay THA area caught approximately 226,300 chum salmon, with a current average weight of 10.0 pounds and an average price of $0.85 per pound. There have been 988 landings by 93 permits in this fishery. The waters of West Behm canal remain open to troll gear, and Neets Bay reopened to trollers west of the easternmost tip of Bug Island on August 2 as waters of the general summer troll fishery.

The 2017 Summer Troll Management Plans can be found on the troll website. Inseason catch and effort data for summer is available on the same site.

Purse Seine Fishery

The 2017 Southeast Alaska common property purse seine fishery is now in its ninth week. Regional cumulative harvest estimates for purse seine gear as of August 11 are 20.4 million pink and 3.9 million chum salmon. During statistical week 33, fishing occurred on August 13 and on August 16-17.

Seine effort during the August 12-13 fishing period included 68 boats in Section 9-B, 50 in Section 13-A, 33 on the West Admiralty Island shore, 28 in Deep Inlet THA, and 20 boats each in District 4 and Point Augusta. Total estimated harvest for the fishing period was 3.6 million salmon. The largest harvests occurred in Section 9-B with 969,000 salmon harvested, followed by Section 13-A with 767,000 salmon, West Admiralty Island shore with 316,000 salmon, Southwest Admiralty shore with 298,000 salmon, Point Augusta with 217,000 salmon, and District 4 with 208,000 salmon harvested. Pink salmon harvest per boat was highest in Hidden Falls THA and Southwest Admiralty Island shore with 17,100 fish per boat, followed by Section 13-A with 15,000, Section 9-B with 14,000, District 5 with 12,100, Tenakee Inlet/Basket Bay with 10,700, and Point Augusta with 10,400 fish per boat.

The seine opening on August 16 included portions of Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14. Harvest information for this opening is not available at the time of this update.

The preseason pink salmon harvest forecast for 2017 is 43 million fish with a range of 27-59 million. Pink salmon harvest to date projects a total harvest for Southern Southeast Alaska districts of less than 10 million and in Northern Southeast Alaska districts, 25-28 million fish. By statistical week 33, on average, pink salmon harvest in Southern Southeast districts is 71% complete and in Northern Southeast districts pink salmon harvest is 80% complete. In general, pink salmon escapement and harvest are below average in Southern Southeast districts and in Northern Southeast districts, escapement varies by district from below to slightly above average and harvest is above average.

For further harvest information by gear type see Southeast Inseason Harvest by Gear webpage.

Drift Gillnet Fishery

Traditional Southeast area drift gillnet fisheries occur in Districts 1, 6, 8, 11, and 15.

Tree Point/Section 1-B

The Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery was open for four days, in statistical week 33, starting at 12:01 p.m., Sunday, August 18, 2017. Harvests of chum salmon were average and harvests of all other species were below average. The effort level of 25 vessels was below the 10-year average of 36 vessels. The weekly harvest estimate is 5 Chinook salmon, 1,200 sockeye salmon, 900 coho salmon, 38,000 pink salmon, and 6,000 chum salmon. The Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery is currently being managed according to the District One Pink Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 33.360). It is anticipated the District 1 purse seine fishery will receive two days of fishing time in statistical week 34, therefore the Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery will open four days, beginning at 12:01 p.m., Sunday, August 20. For further details concerning this fishery, please see the 2017 Southeast Alaska drift gillnet fishery management plan.(PDF 533 kB).

Stikine and Prince of Wales/Districts 6 and 8

Management focus of the Districts 6 and 8 gillnet fishery for stat week 33 was based on pink salmon abundance. Both districts opened for 72 hours beginning on Sunday, August 13. Participation was above average in District 6 with above average pink salmon harvest. Pink salmon harvest in District 8 was average with below average participation. For the time of year, escapements in District 8 are on track to meet target escapement ranges. However, escapements to systems in District 6 appear to be lagging during these early weeks of assessments. Management emphasis will transition from pink salmon to coho salmon abundance starting in September. Both districts will open for a 72-hour period beginning Sunday, August 20.

The final Stikine River sockeye salmon inseason assessment produced a run size of 130,000 fish and escapement goals are projected to be achieved. Sockeye salmon escapement to local systems will be assessed in early September.

Taku-Snettisham/Section 11-B

The week started off at an exciting pace with a significant movement of Speel Lake sockeye salmon through the weir in a short time period - 1,665 fish in 24 hours - resulting in an area extension in the entrance of Port Snettisham and the rescinding of the six-inch minimum mesh size restriction south of Circle Point. Anticipation was high that fish would continue to progress through the weir at a steady clip and once the escapement goal appeared "in the bag", the Speel Arm Special Harvest Area (SHA) would be opened to allow opportunity to harvest Snettisham Hatchery sockeye salmon that have been building up in Speel Arm. Alas, the movement of fish through the weir slowed significantly in the past couple of days and it became apparent that an opening into the SHA was not in the cards this week. Approximately 45 boats fished in District 11 throughout the week with many heading down to the entrance of Port Snettisham to make a set or two on Tuesday only to head back north to the much more productive fishing nearer the Taku River.

This is officially the last week of sockeye salmon management in the District 11 fishery, but reds were on everyone's mind as there still appear to be plenty of Taku River fish around and access to the Speel Arm SHA is looming. The most current Taku River sockeye salmon inriver run size projection puts total escapement above the upper end of the goal range with approximately 90% of the run historically through Taku Inlet at this point in the season. Current total sockeye harvest in District 11 is approaching 100,000 fish in the traditional (non-hatchery) fishery which is just ever so slightly below the recent ten-year average harvest of 103,000 fish.

Coho salmon catch rates in District 11 are off to an average start and the first inseason Taku River inriver run size projection is approximately 72,000 fish, right in the middle of the escapement goal range, but well below the forecast of 117,000 fish. The silver scene is just starting to unfold in inside waters though, and much is left to develop.

The District 11 drift gillnet fishery will again open for three days in Section 11-B next week with the entrance to Port Snettisham remaining part of the mix and the mesh restriction south of Circle Point removed. Department staff will be surveying the fishery as usual throughout the opening and a minimum of six-hours of notice will be given both on the grounds via VHF radio and in the form of a news release prior to any fishing opportunity inside the Speel Arm SHA.

Lynn Canal/District 15

In Section 15-A the drift gillnet fishery will be open for two days beginning Sunday, August 20th. As of August 18th, the sockeye escapement to Chilkoot Lake was 36,000 fish, above the cumulative lower bound of the goal for this time period. With an average of about 90% of the Chilkoot sockeye salmon run in the river by this time, the escapement projection is currently just above goal. The Chilkat Lake sockeye return is above average, and with about 37% of the run through the weir the final escapement is projected to be within the escapement goal range. The cumulative sockeye salmon catch in the Chilkat River fish wheels is about 70% of the average. The pink salmon catch on the fish wheels is about twice the average. With the majority of the Chilkoot Lake sockeye salmon thorough the fishery, the eastern shoreline Section 15-A will open again this week. In Section 15A gillnet fishing will be limited to two days, south of the latitude of Seduction Point and south of the Glacier Point/Twin Coves line in Chilkat Inlet.

The gillnet fishery in Section 15-C will be open for one day south of the latitude of Point Bridget. The focus of the 15-C fishery has shifted from the harvest of enhanced chum salmon to the harvest of surplus wild sockeye salmon as the chum salmon return tapers off.

The harvest for the two day opening in statistical week 33 (August 14 to August 16) is estimated to be 5,700 chum salmon, 2,000 sockeye salmon, no Chinook salmon, 3,000 pink salmon, and 250 coho salmon. The harvest of sockeye salmon is about 11% of the proceeding 10-year average, while the chum salmon harvest is about 70% of the proceeding 10-year average and the pink salmon harvest is 11% of the average. An estimated 40 boats participated in the fishery, about one half of the average number. The cumulative harvest of chum salmon this year is about 1.49 million fish, close to 1.5 times the average, and well above projected common property share of the hatchery produced chum salmon. The cumulative sockeye salmon harvest is 29,000 fish, about 25% of the average, while the cumulative Chinook salmon harvest of 1,100 fish is 1.2 times the average. The cumulative pink salmon harvest of 161,000 fish is about 83% of the average.

Yakutat Area Set Gillnet Fishery

Due to minimal fishing effort in the Alsek River, the fishing period was extended by one day. Fewer than three permits fished the Alsek River and harvest information is confidential. Fishing effort in the East River is also dropping off. This week, five permits harvested less than 200 sockeye salmon. Chum and pink salmon are starting to dominate the fishery. An aerial survey conducted on the East/Doame River system exhibited strong sockeye salmon escapements and 21,000 fish were counted. In the Situk-Ahrnklin Inlet, 39 permits harvested nearly 1,100 sockeye, 600 coho, and 11,000 pink salmon. In Yakutat Bay, eight permits harvested just less than 800 sockeye, 265 coho, and 1,600 pink salmon. The Akwe and Dangerous rivers, as well as the Manby Shore fisheries were opened but not fished. The Yakataga District was open, but not fished this week. The Tsiu River remains closed, but may open on short notice when some coho salmon escapement has been observed. The Italio River systems may open by emergency order when escapement counts have been observed. With the exception of the East River, which is still targeting sockeye salmon, most other fisheries in the Yakutat Area will now be managed for coho salmon.

The Situk River weir has been removed for the season. The final count for large Chinook salmon was 1,188 fish and the BEG was achieved and exceeded. This is the largest Chinook salmon escapement recorded in the recent decade. There were 91,000 sockeye salmon counted through the weir and the BEG was attained and exceeded. The weir is removed before the end of the pink salmon run. A cumulative count of approximately 264,000 pink salmon was recorded by the time the weir was dismantled and the BEG was well achieved. The preseason forecast for the Canadian weir on the Klukshu River was 1,400 Chinook salmon (Alsek: 5,500 fish) which indicated the run would be below average. There were 400 Chinook that passed through the weir. Current assessment information suggests that the Chinook return to the Klukshu River will be below the lower end of the BEG range (800-1,200 fish). The preseason forecast for Klukshu sockeye salmon is 17,000 fish (Alsek: 74,000 fish) which suggests the run will be above average. Roughly 1,100 sockeye salmon have been counted through the Klukshu River weir; it is too early to tell if the BEG will be attained.

Terminal Harvest Area (THA) Fisheries

Terminal Harvest Area (THA) gillnet fisheries occur in Nakat Inlet, Neets Bay, Anita Bay, Deep Inlet, and Boat Harbor. THA seine fisheries occur in Neets Bay, Kendrick Bay, Anita Bay, Deep Inlet, and Hidden Falls.

Anita Bay THA

At the time of publication, approximately 9,000 Chinook and 139,000 chum salmon have been harvested in Anita Bay. The 2017 preseason forecast for Anita Bay coho salmon is 20,100 fish. A rotational fishery began on June 13 for gillnet and purse seine gear groups and changed to a time ratio of two to one on July 31. This rotational fishing schedule will conclude on August 31 when the THA opens to all gear groups concurrently until 12:00 noon, November 10. For further information and updates on SSRAA contributions and updates visit the SSRAA website .

Boat Harbor THA

The inside area of the Boat Harbor Terminal Harvest Area will remain open until further notice. The inside area is defined as the inside waters of the Boat Harbor THA west of the department markers at the entrance of Boat Harbor. The outside area of the Boat Harbor THA will no longer be open as a separate area.

Deep Inlet THA

The Deep Inlet THA rotational fisheries began on May 28 and chum management began on June 18; with seine openings on Sunday, Thursday and Friday; and gillnet openings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Forecast returns for Deep Inlet THA and Medvejie Hatchery includes 1,355,000 chum salmon, 22,700 Chinook salmon, and 52,000 coho salmon. This season, 90,000 chum salmon are needed for broodstock, and up to 386,000 chum salmon are needed for cost recovery, depending on price. Harvest from the week 33 gillnet openings was approximately 40,000 chum salmon; harvest from the seine opening on August 13 was approximately 165,000 chum salmon. Harvest to date from the combined rotational fisheries is 2,370 Chinook and 505,000 chum salmon. The Deep Inlet THA will close to all common property commercial harvest beginning after the troll period on August 19, to facilitate collection of cost recovery chum salmon; the THA will reopen following the completion of cost recovery.

Hidden Falls THA

Forecast returns for Hidden Falls THA includes 510,000 chum salmon and 197,000 coho salmon; no Chinook salmon are expected to return in 2017. NSRAA needs 190,000 chum salmon for broodstock leaving 320,000 chum salmon available for common property harvests. Purse seine openings began June 18. Chum salmon harvest from the Hidden Falls THA to date is approximately 197,000 fish. Additionally, due to a low forecast of chum salmon returns, there will be no tax assessment in the HFH THA.

Kendrick Bay THA

The forecasted return for Kendrick Bay summer chum salmon is 842,000 fish. Kendrick Bay opened to the harvest of salmon by purse seine gear on Thursday, June 15, 2016. The Kendrick Bay harvest of chum salmon through statistical week 32 is 642,000 salmon, or 74% of the forecasted return. This total includes 440,000 chum salmon harvested by purse seine gear and 39,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet gear in the traditional fishery and 132,000 chum salmon harvested in the THA. For further information and updates on Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) contributions and updates visit their website at SSRAA website.

Nakat Inlet THA

The forecasted return of Nakat Inlet summer chum salmon is 226,000 and for fall chum salmon is 96,800. Nakat Inlet opened to the harvest of salmon by drift gillnet and troll gear on Thursday, June 1, 2017. The Nakat Inlet harvest through statistical week 32 is approximately 237,000 chum salmon, or 105% of the summer forecast. This total includes 114,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet gear and 15,000 chum salmon harvested by purse seine gear in the traditional fishery and 107,000 chum salmon harvested in the THA. For further information and updates on Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) contributions and updates visit their website at SSRAA website.

Neets Bay THA

The Neets Bay forecasted return for summer chum salmon is 1,320,000 fish, for fall chum salmon is 212,600 fish, for Chinook salmon is 22,200 fish, and for coho salmon is 254,800 fish. Neets Bay opened to the harvest of salmon by Drift Gillnet and Purse Seine on Monday, May 1, and has a rotational fishery between Drift Gillnet and Purse Seine through June 26, 2017. The Neets Bay harvest of chum salmon through statistical week 32 is approximately 1,323,500 salmon, or 100% of the summer forecast. This total includes 243,000 chum salmon harvested by purse seine gear, 80,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet gear and 225,000 chum salmon harvested by troll gear in the traditional fishery and 7,500 chum salmon harvested by purse seine, 3,000 chum salmon harvested by drift gillnet, 115,000 chum salmon harvested by troll gear, 150,000 chum salmon harvested for broodstock and 500,000 chum salmon harvested for cost recovery inside the THA. The harvest of Chinook salmon in the Neets Bay THA through statistical week 32 is 1,750 salmon by drift gillnet gear and 2,200 salmon by purse seine gear. For further information and updates on Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) contributions and updates visit their website at SSRAA website.

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Prince William Sound (PWS)
Copper River and PWS Drift Gillnet The Copper River District was open to commercial fishing for a 12-hour fishing period starting August 10. This was the twenty-fifty period of the 2017 season. The Copper River District switched to coho salmon management beginning with the 24-hour period that began on August 14. The Coghill District was open for 14-hour fishing periods on August 10, August 12, August 14, August 15, and August 16. The Eshamy District was open for 24-hour fishing periods on August 14 and August 17. During the August 17 Eshamy District fishing periods, the set gillnet fleet was limited to 12 hours of fishing per regulation. Escapement monitoring at the Miles Lake Sonar Station for sockeye and Chinook salmon returns to the Copper ended on July 28. A total of 723,426 salmon were enumerated at the sonar site whereas the anticipated range for this date is 638,158-998,857. The Coghill River weir was pulled on July 28 and a total of 50,312 sockeye and 387,538 pink salmon have been enumerated. Aerial surveys for coho salmon on the Copper River Delta will begin next week. Waters inside of the barrier islands from Strawberry Entrance through Little Softuk were opened to commercial fishing during the fishing periods starting July 28 and July 31. Effort has decreased across PWS and the Copper River District; distribution of drift gillnet is currently 30% Copper River District and 70% Coghill/Eshamy districts. The preliminary harvest from the twenty-fifth Copper River District commercial fishing period was 2,316 sockeye salmon with 50 deliveries reported. The preliminary harvest from the twenty-sixth Copper River District commercial fishing period was 1,863 sockeye and 2,870 coho salmon with 58 deliveries reported. The anticipated sockeye salmon harvest for these fishing periods were 3,663 and 1,929 fish, respectively. Cumulative harvest to date in the Copper River District is 13,136 king and 566,733 sockeye salmon. Cumulative harvest through August 16 in the Coghill District was 3.03 million chum and 117,500 sockeye salmon. Cumulative harvest through August 11 in the Eshamy District was 554,000 sockeye and 118,000 chum salmon. Prince William Sound Purse Seine In the Southwestern District, waters south of the latitude of 60Â°11.50, excluding Armin F. Koernig Hatchery (AFK) SHA and THA, were open to commercial purse seine fishing for a 14-hour period on August 12. Waters of the eastern shore of Latouche Island south of Pt. Grace and east of the southernmost tip of the Latouche Island, waters of the Elrington Subdistrict, waters of San Juan Subdistrict, were open to commercial purse seine fishing for a 14-hour fishing period on August 14. Waters east of 147Âº 46.27'W., waters of the eastern shore of Latouche Island south of Pt. Grace and east of the southernmost tip of the Latouche Island, were open to commercial purse seine fishing for a 12-hour fishing period on August 16. Waters of the Eastern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 16, and August 18. Waters of the Northern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 13, August 14, August 15, and August 16. Waters of the Coghill District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 15, and August 16. Waters of the Northwestern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 15, and August 16. Waters of the Montague District opened to commercial fishing on August 14 and August 16. Waters of the Southeastern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 15, August 16, and August 18. Valdez Fisheries Development Association (VFDA) began egg takes on Monday, July 31 and has collected 163 million eggs (65%) of a 250 million egg take goal through August 16. VFDA anticipates egg takes will be completed on Tuesday, August 22. Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (PWSAC) completed cost recovery at AFK and Wally Noerenberg Hatchery (WNH) on Friday, August 11. ADF&G sampling of CPF pink salmon harvested on August 15 within the Northern District resulted in an estimated sex ratio of 56% female (sample size of 962 fish). PWSAC currently estimates there are approximately 140,000-160,000 pink salmon near the AFK hatchery and needs approximately 350,000 pink salmon for broodstock; 180,000-200,000 pink salmon within the CCH SHA and needs approximately 360,000 pink salmon for broodstock; 125,000-150,000 pink salmon behind the barrier seine at WNH and needs approximately 300,000 pink salmon for broodstock. An estimated 1 million pink salmon were harvested in PWS on August 16. The cumulative PWS pink salmon harvest through August 16 is estimated at 36.7 million CPF, 1 million VFDA cost recovery fish, and 1.9 million PWSAC cost recovery fish, for a total of 39.6 million pink salmon. The 5-year odd-year average (2007-2015) cumulative PWS pink salmon harvest (cost recovery and CPF fish) through August 16 is 51.4 million fish. Preliminary contribution estimates from the 14-hour period that began on Tuesday, August 8 in the Southwestern District are 26% AFK, 8% SGH, 9% CCH, 8% WNH, and 48% wild pink salmon; Northern District 6% SGH, 64% CCH, 1% WNH, and 29% wild pink salmon; Eastern District 23% SGH, 1% WNH, and 76% wild pink salmon. Preliminary contribution estimates from the 14-hour period that began on Tuesday, August 10 in the Southwestern District are 26% AFK, 4% SGH, 22% CCH, 6% WNH, and 41% wild pink salmon; Northern District 4% SGH, 67% CCH, 8% WNH, and 21% wild pink salmon; Eastern District 15% SGH, 1% AFK, 2% CCH, and 82% wild pink salmon. Preliminary contribution estimates from the 14-hour period that began on Tuesday, August 14 in the Montague District are 2% AFK, 8% SGH, 6% CCH, and 84% wild pink salmon; Southwestern District are 24% AFK, 24% CCH, 11% SGH, 9% WNH, and 33% wild pink salmon; Northern District are 49% CCH, 6% AFK, 2% SGH, 43% wild pink salmon.

Prince William Sound (PWS)

Copper River and PWS Drift Gillnet

The Copper River District was open to commercial fishing for a 12-hour fishing period starting August 10. This was the twenty-fifty period of the 2017 season. The Copper River District switched to coho salmon management beginning with the 24-hour period that began on August 14. The Coghill District was open for 14-hour fishing periods on August 10, August 12, August 14, August 15, and August 16. The Eshamy District was open for 24-hour fishing periods on August 14 and August 17. During the August 17 Eshamy District fishing periods, the set gillnet fleet was limited to 12 hours of fishing per regulation.

Escapement monitoring at the Miles Lake Sonar Station for sockeye and Chinook salmon returns to the Copper ended on July 28. A total of 723,426 salmon were enumerated at the sonar site whereas the anticipated range for this date is 638,158-998,857. The Coghill River weir was pulled on July 28 and a total of 50,312 sockeye and 387,538 pink salmon have been enumerated. Aerial surveys for coho salmon on the Copper River Delta will begin next week.

Waters inside of the barrier islands from Strawberry Entrance through Little Softuk were opened to commercial fishing during the fishing periods starting July 28 and July 31. Effort has decreased across PWS and the Copper River District; distribution of drift gillnet is currently 30% Copper River District and 70% Coghill/Eshamy districts.

The preliminary harvest from the twenty-fifth Copper River District commercial fishing period was 2,316 sockeye salmon with 50 deliveries reported. The preliminary harvest from the twenty-sixth Copper River District commercial fishing period was 1,863 sockeye and 2,870 coho salmon with 58 deliveries reported. The anticipated sockeye salmon harvest for these fishing periods were 3,663 and 1,929 fish, respectively. Cumulative harvest to date in the Copper River District is 13,136 king and 566,733 sockeye salmon. Cumulative harvest through August 16 in the Coghill District was 3.03 million chum and 117,500 sockeye salmon. Cumulative harvest through August 11 in the Eshamy District was 554,000 sockeye and 118,000 chum salmon.

Prince William Sound Purse Seine

In the Southwestern District, waters south of the latitude of 60Â°11.50, excluding Armin F. Koernig Hatchery (AFK) SHA and THA, were open to commercial purse seine fishing for a 14-hour period on August 12. Waters of the eastern shore of Latouche Island south of Pt. Grace and east of the southernmost tip of the Latouche Island, waters of the Elrington Subdistrict, waters of San Juan Subdistrict, were open to commercial purse seine fishing for a 14-hour fishing period on August 14. Waters east of 147Âº 46.27'W., waters of the eastern shore of Latouche Island south of Pt. Grace and east of the southernmost tip of the Latouche Island, were open to commercial purse seine fishing for a 12-hour fishing period on August 16.

Waters of the Eastern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 16, and August 18.

Waters of the Northern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 13, August 14, August 15, and August 16.

Waters of the Coghill District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 15, and August 16.

Waters of the Northwestern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 15, and August 16.

Waters of the Montague District opened to commercial fishing on August 14 and August 16.

Waters of the Southeastern District opened to commercial fishing on August 12, August 14, August 15, August 16, and August 18.

Valdez Fisheries Development Association (VFDA) began egg takes on Monday, July 31 and has collected 163 million eggs (65%) of a 250 million egg take goal through August 16. VFDA anticipates egg takes will be completed on Tuesday, August 22.

Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (PWSAC) completed cost recovery at AFK and Wally Noerenberg Hatchery (WNH) on Friday, August 11. ADF&G sampling of CPF pink salmon harvested on August 15 within the Northern District resulted in an estimated sex ratio of 56% female (sample size of 962 fish).

PWSAC currently estimates there are approximately 140,000-160,000 pink salmon near the AFK hatchery and needs approximately 350,000 pink salmon for broodstock; 180,000-200,000 pink salmon within the CCH SHA and needs approximately 360,000 pink salmon for broodstock; 125,000-150,000 pink salmon behind the barrier seine at WNH and needs approximately 300,000 pink salmon for broodstock.

An estimated 1 million pink salmon were harvested in PWS on August 16. The cumulative PWS pink salmon harvest through August 16 is estimated at 36.7 million CPF, 1 million VFDA cost recovery fish, and 1.9 million PWSAC cost recovery fish, for a total of 39.6 million pink salmon. The 5-year odd-year average (2007-2015) cumulative PWS pink salmon harvest (cost recovery and CPF fish) through August 16 is 51.4 million fish.

Preliminary contribution estimates from the 14-hour period that began on Tuesday, August 8 in the Southwestern District are 26% AFK, 8% SGH, 9% CCH, 8% WNH, and 48% wild pink salmon; Northern District 6% SGH, 64% CCH, 1% WNH, and 29% wild pink salmon; Eastern District 23% SGH, 1% WNH, and 76% wild pink salmon.

Preliminary contribution estimates from the 14-hour period that began on Tuesday, August 10 in the Southwestern District are 26% AFK, 4% SGH, 22% CCH, 6% WNH, and 41% wild pink salmon; Northern District 4% SGH, 67% CCH, 8% WNH, and 21% wild pink salmon; Eastern District 15% SGH, 1% AFK, 2% CCH, and 82% wild pink salmon.

Preliminary contribution estimates from the 14-hour period that began on Tuesday, August 14 in the Montague District are 2% AFK, 8% SGH, 6% CCH, and 84% wild pink salmon; Southwestern District are 24% AFK, 24% CCH, 11% SGH, 9% WNH, and 33% wild pink salmon; Northern District are 49% CCH, 6% AFK, 2% SGH, 43% wild pink salmon.

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Bristol Bay
For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage. For the Bristol Bay harvest reports please see: Inseason Harvest Summary Inseason Daily Harvest Report Naknek-Kvichak District Through July 20, the Naknek River cumulative escapement was 1.86 million fish, the Kvichak River cumulative escapement was 2.67 million fish, and Alagnak River cumulative escapement was 2.02 million fish. Daily harvests have declined from 524,000 on July 17 down to 46,000 on July 20. Cumulative harvest was 7.85 million. Total run was 14.4 million fish compared to the preseason forecast of 16.1 million. Harvest allocation during the allocation period was 72% drift, 16% Naknek set, and 12% Kvichak set. The fall schedule began at 9:00 a.m. July 17. This will be the last Blue Sheet report for the Naknek-Kvichak District July 21, 2017. Egegik District In the Egegik District, escapement through July 19 is 2.6 million fish and above the upper limit of the escapement goal range. The counting tower project and the inriver test fishery projects have finished for the season. Cumulative harvest is 10.8 million fish and daily harvest is hovering around 200,000 fish per day, but is in decline. The total run is nearing 14 million fish which is above the preseason forecast of 10.7 million fish. Processor limits have eased and the fishery is currently open on a continuous basis until 9:00 a.m. Friday August 4 for late season fishing. The fall schedule of 9:00 a.m. Monday to 9:00 a.m. Friday effectively starts at 9:00 a.m. Monday August 7. *This will be the last update for the season for the Egegik District July 21, 2017.* Ugashik District In the Ugashik District, escapement through July 19 is 1.08 million fish and within the escapement goal range, with passage rates declining rapidly. Escapement is on track to stay within the upper half of the escapement goal range. Cumulative harvest is 4.8 million fish, bringing the total run to 5.9 million fish, compared to the preseason projection of 5.5 million. Harvest levels are still in the 200,000 fish daily range but like Egegik are also declining. Processor limits are no longer in place and commercial fishing is currently open on a continuous basis until 9:00 a.m. Monday July 31. The fall schedule of 9:00 a.m. Thursday to 9:00 a.m. Monday will take effect beginning 9:00 a.m. Thursday August 3. *This will be the last update for the season for the Ugashik District July 21, 2017.* Nushagak District Commercial fishing has remained open and unrestricted in the Nushagak District. Coho salmon are the main species being harvested at this point. The cumulative harvest stands at 150,000. This is well above average and more remarkable given the relatively low effort estimated at about 25 drift boats and a similar number of set net fishermen. All enumeration projects are done. The allocation accounting period ended July 17. Drift harvest percentage was 75.2%, the goal is 74%. The new harvest record is still being added to at 11,751,009 fish and counting. *This will be the last update for the season for the Nushagak District August 18, 2017.* Togiak District Fishing is following the weekly schedules for all sections, but the only reported effort is from Togiak River Section. Only one processor is buying at this point and effort is diminishing. Escapement enumeration ended on August at 190,098 fish just shy of the 195,000 fish mid-range. Effort is dropping and only one processor is still buying. Harvest for sockeye is still trickling and has passed 500,000 fish total. Coho harvest is increasing but still below 5,000 fish total. *This will be the last update for the season for the Togiak District August 18, 2017.*

Bristol Bay

For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

For the Bristol Bay harvest reports please see:

Naknek-Kvichak District

Through July 20, the Naknek River cumulative escapement was 1.86 million fish, the Kvichak River cumulative escapement was 2.67 million fish, and Alagnak River cumulative escapement was 2.02 million fish. Daily harvests have declined from 524,000 on July 17 down to 46,000 on July 20. Cumulative harvest was 7.85 million. Total run was 14.4 million fish compared to the preseason forecast of 16.1 million. Harvest allocation during the allocation period was 72% drift, 16% Naknek set, and 12% Kvichak set. The fall schedule began at 9:00 a.m. July 17.

This will be the last Blue Sheet report for the Naknek-Kvichak District July 21, 2017.

Egegik District

In the Egegik District, escapement through July 19 is 2.6 million fish and above the upper limit of the escapement goal range. The counting tower project and the inriver test fishery projects have finished for the season. Cumulative harvest is 10.8 million fish and daily harvest is hovering around 200,000 fish per day, but is in decline. The total run is nearing 14 million fish which is above the preseason forecast of 10.7 million fish. Processor limits have eased and the fishery is currently open on a continuous basis until 9:00 a.m. Friday August 4 for late season fishing. The fall schedule of 9:00 a.m. Monday to 9:00 a.m. Friday effectively starts at 9:00 a.m. Monday August 7.

This will be the last update for the season for the Egegik District July 21, 2017.

Ugashik District

In the Ugashik District, escapement through July 19 is 1.08 million fish and within the escapement goal range, with passage rates declining rapidly. Escapement is on track to stay within the upper half of the escapement goal range. Cumulative harvest is 4.8 million fish, bringing the total run to 5.9 million fish, compared to the preseason projection of 5.5 million. Harvest levels are still in the 200,000 fish daily range but like Egegik are also declining. Processor limits are no longer in place and commercial fishing is currently open on a continuous basis until 9:00 a.m. Monday July 31. The fall schedule of 9:00 a.m. Thursday to 9:00 a.m. Monday will take effect beginning 9:00 a.m. Thursday August 3.

This will be the last update for the season for the Ugashik District July 21, 2017.

Nushagak District

Commercial fishing has remained open and unrestricted in the Nushagak District. Coho salmon are the main species being harvested at this point. The cumulative harvest stands at 150,000. This is well above average and more remarkable given the relatively low effort estimated at about 25 drift boats and a similar number of set net fishermen.

All enumeration projects are done. The allocation accounting period ended July 17. Drift harvest percentage was 75.2%, the goal is 74%. The new harvest record is still being added to at 11,751,009 fish and counting.

This will be the last update for the season for the Nushagak District August 18, 2017.

Togiak District

Fishing is following the weekly schedules for all sections, but the only reported effort is from Togiak River Section. Only one processor is buying at this point and effort is diminishing.

Escapement enumeration ended on August at 190,098 fish just shy of the 195,000 fish mid-range.

Effort is dropping and only one processor is still buying.

Harvest for sockeye is still trickling and has passed 500,000 fish total. Coho harvest is increasing but still below 5,000 fish total.

This will be the last update for the season for the Togiak District August 18, 2017.

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Cook Inlet:
Upper Cook Inlet (UCI) Currently in Upper Cook Inlet there are several commercial fisheries underway Northern District Set Gillnet fishery: Mondays and Thursdays - 12 hour periods Reduced fishing time in General Subdistrict of the Northern District east of the Susitna River including Fire Island. Western, Kustatan, and Kalgin Island Subdistrict Set Gillnet fisheries: Mondays and Thursdays - 12 hour periods. Central District Drift Gillnet fishery: Mondays and Thursdays- 12 hour periods Fishing in Drift Gillnet Areas 3 and 4 on Mondays and Thursdays the remainder of the season. Upper Subdistrict Set Gillnet fishery (ESSN): Mondays and Thursdays- 12 hour periods Kenai, Kasilof, and East Foreland sections- closed for the season August 14. Kasilof section season extended to 7pm on August 15. The Kasilof River sockeye salmon enumeration project began on June 15. Approximately 345,504 sockeye salmon were enumerated through August 16. The total run falls above the BEG goal of 160,000-340,000. Assessment of fish passage in the Kasilof River will end following 3 consecutive days of counts less than 1% of the cumulative. The Kenai River sockeye salmon sonar began operation on July 1. As of August 16, a total of 1,127,819 sockeye salmon were counted past the sonar. The inriver goal of 1,000,000 - 1,300,000 sockeye salmon has been achieved. Assessment of fish passage in the Kenai River will end following 3 consecutive days of counts less than 1% of the cumulative. The Larson weir began operation on July 6th. As of August 16, the Larson weir had a cumulative count of 24,458 sockeye. If the run is on time, escapement is about 93% complete and has already met the SEG of 15,000-45,000 for the season. The Chelatna weir began operation on July 12, 2017 and has a cumulative count of 23,663 sockeye as of August 16. An on time run projection estimates the Chelatna sockeye salmon run is 98% complete has met the SEG of 20,000 - 45,000. Finally, Judd Lake was installed July 16th and has a total escapement of 24,631 sockeye salmon as of August 16. The run is 92% complete if on time and has already made the lower end of the SEG of 15,000 to 40,000. Participation in the commercial fisheries that are open so far in Upper Cook Inlet is about normal. Participation in all commercial fisheries has declined significantly. As of August 15th, a total of 7,362 Chinook, 1,827,290 sockeye, 237,464 coho, 167,113 pinks, and 234,776 chum have been harvested during the 2017 fishing season in the Upper Cook Inlet. In 2016, a total of 9,611 chinook, 2,381,598 sockeye, 124,500 coho, 379,051 pinks, and 124,414 chum were harvested as of August 15th. With the exception of coho, the 2017 harvest for all species is smaller than 2016 primarily due to the lower overall projection of sockeye salmon in the Upper Cook Inlet and closures of two regular fishing periods for the East Side Set Net Fleet in the Upper Subdistrict and the Drift Fleet in the Central District. The smaller projection requires staff to manage all stocks more conservatively to best meet escapement goals into the fishery. The Northern district set gillnet fishery opened June 25th and has a total harvest of 50,939 sockeye and 2,119 chinook salmon. The Western Subdistrict set gillnet fishery began June 19th. Approximately 31,499 sockeye salmon and 63 chinook salmon have been harvested. The Kasilof Section of the Upper Subdistrict opened Saturday June 24th while the Kenai and E. Foreland sections opened on July 10th. Approximately 821,999 sockeye salmon and 4,630 chinook salmon have been harvested in these three regions which encompass the east side set gillnet fishery. The drift gillnet fishery has harvested approximately 876,007 sockeye and 230 chinook since opening on June 19. Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Fishing Announcement No. 29 and No. 32 reduced fishing time in that portion of the General Subdistrict of the Northern District east of the Susitna River, including Fire Island to commercial fishing from 12 hours to 6 hours. The Little Susitna River coho salmon sustainable escapement goal (SEG) is 10,100-17,700 fish. As of August 16, 2017 the estimated passage of coho salmon through the Little Susitna River weir was 5,816 fish. Based on this level of cumulative passage, a reduction in the commercial harvest of this stock is warranted in order to ensure the SEG is achieved. For more harvest information please see Upper Cook Inlet Salmon Harvest webpage. Lower Cook Inlet (LCI) Pink salmon broodstock harvest is being initiated at both the Port Graham and Tutka Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA) hatchery facilities. Commercial common property set gillnet harvest began in the Southern District of Lower Cook Inlet on June 1 with commercial purse seine harvest beginning on Monday, June 19 on a schedule of MWF 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM fishing periods. The Kamishak Bay District opened to commercial purse seine harvest on June 1 with daily 24 hour fishing periods occurring. Beginning July 31, portions of the Outer District were opened to commercial purse seine harvest on a schedule of daily 16 hour fishing periods, (6:00 AM to 10:00 PM) 7 days a week. Beginning on August 11, a large portion of the Tutka Hatchery special harvest area (SHA) opened to commercial common property purse seine harvest on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. The weir at Bear Creek in Resurrection Bay has been in operation since mid-May. Through August 3, a total of 12,696 sockeye salmon have been counted at the Bear Creek weir. This is within the anticipated range of 6,212 - 13,623 fish for this date. The weir on the English Bay River has been in operation since May 22. Through July 26, a total of 20,751 sockeye salmon have been counted. This is above the anticipated range of 5,885- 13,242 fish for this date and is above the SEG maximum of 13,500 fish. The video monitoring station at Chenik Lake has documented approximately 6,600 sockeye salmon entering the lake from June 16 until approximately noon on July 21. The sustainable escapement goal for this system is 2,900 - 13,700 fish. Typically by this date 77.8% of the escapement has been counted. An aerial survey on July 21 documented 2,000 sockeye salmon in Chenik Lagoon. Harvest from the Chenik Lagoon area to date is approximately 100,000 sockeye salmon. Timing for all three of these sockeye salmon runs appears to be similar to recent 10-year averages. Participation levels for lower Cook Inlet commercial set gillnet and purse seine fisheries are anticipated to remain similar to recent years. Sockeye salmon harvests in the Southern District set gillnet commercial fishery through Saturday, August 12 (31,058) is higher than the 2016 harvest (19,359 fish) for this date , and is also above the previous five year average of 27,599 fish commercially harvested by this date. In 2016 otoliths were sampled from commercial set gillnet sockeye salmon harvests. Of those fish sampled from June 1 through July 30, 29.3% were found to have hatchery thermal marks. Similar to the set gillnet harvest, purse seine harvest in the Southern District has been robust with 59,738 sockeye salmon delivered from June 19 through August 7. This is an increase from the 47,235 fish harvested during this span of time last year. Last year 49.62% of the sockeye salmon otoliths sampled during the first six weeks of the commercial purse seine season were thermally marked indicating that these fish were of hatchery origin. In addition, 100,000 sockeye salmon have been harvested this season from the Chenik Subdistrict. Chenik Lake was enhanced with hatchery incubated sockeye salmon for 13 years between 1978 and 1996. The average commercial common property harvest over the last ten years from the Chenik Subdistrict is 59,000 sockeye salmon. Cumulative total pink salmon harvest from the Outer District through week 32, (August 6 - 12) was approximately 422,500 fish harvested this season. On average the total cumulative harvest from the Outer District through week 32 for the last 3 odd year returns has been 38.4% of the final return for those years. This projects to a final Outer District pink salmon harvest of 1.6 million fish. This could put the harvest for this species this year in the top five years since 1970 in terms of the number of pink salmon harvested commercially from the Outer District. 2017 is the return year for 2015 pink salmon which was a record year for Lower Cook Inlet (LCI) in terms of numbers of pink salmon, (6.4 million) harvested by the commercial fleet. The previous odd year, (2013) was also an extremely good year for pink salmon returns with 2.1 million fish landed by the commercial fleet in LCI. Initial harvest and escapement indicators are showing returns that are within the expected range for pink as well as chum salmon. Many escapement index streams for both of these species have already achieved their respective minimum sustainable escapement goals. For preliminary harvest information for Lower Cook Inlet commercial fisheries please visit the Lower Cook Inlet Daily Harvest webpage.

Cook Inlet:

Upper Cook Inlet (UCI)

Currently in Upper Cook Inlet there are several commercial fisheries underway

Northern District Set Gillnet fishery: Mondays and Thursdays - 12 hour periods
1. Reduced fishing time in General Subdistrict of the Northern District east of the Susitna River including Fire Island.
Western, Kustatan, and Kalgin Island Subdistrict Set Gillnet fisheries: Mondays and Thursdays - 12 hour periods.
Central District Drift Gillnet fishery: Mondays and Thursdays- 12 hour periods
1. Fishing in Drift Gillnet Areas 3 and 4 on Mondays and Thursdays the remainder of the season.
Upper Subdistrict Set Gillnet fishery (ESSN): Mondays and Thursdays- 12 hour periods
1. Kenai, Kasilof, and East Foreland sections- closed for the season August 14.
2. Kasilof section season extended to 7pm on August 15.

The Kasilof River sockeye salmon enumeration project began on June 15. Approximately 345,504 sockeye salmon were enumerated through August 16. The total run falls above the BEG goal of 160,000-340,000. Assessment of fish passage in the Kasilof River will end following 3 consecutive days of counts less than 1% of the cumulative.

The Kenai River sockeye salmon sonar began operation on July 1. As of August 16, a total of 1,127,819 sockeye salmon were counted past the sonar. The inriver goal of 1,000,000 - 1,300,000 sockeye salmon has been achieved. Assessment of fish passage in the Kenai River will end following 3 consecutive days of counts less than 1% of the cumulative.

The Larson weir began operation on July 6th. As of August 16, the Larson weir had a cumulative count of 24,458 sockeye. If the run is on time, escapement is about 93% complete and has already met the SEG of 15,000-45,000 for the season. The Chelatna weir began operation on July 12, 2017 and has a cumulative count of 23,663 sockeye as of August 16. An on time run projection estimates the Chelatna sockeye salmon run is 98% complete has met the SEG of 20,000 - 45,000. Finally, Judd Lake was installed July 16th and has a total escapement of 24,631 sockeye salmon as of August 16. The run is 92% complete if on time and has already made the lower end of the SEG of 15,000 to 40,000.

Participation in the commercial fisheries that are open so far in Upper Cook Inlet is about normal. Participation in all commercial fisheries has declined significantly.

As of August 15th, a total of 7,362 Chinook, 1,827,290 sockeye, 237,464 coho, 167,113 pinks, and 234,776 chum have been harvested during the 2017 fishing season in the Upper Cook Inlet. In 2016, a total of 9,611 chinook, 2,381,598 sockeye, 124,500 coho, 379,051 pinks, and 124,414 chum were harvested as of August 15th. With the exception of coho, the 2017 harvest for all species is smaller than 2016 primarily due to the lower overall projection of sockeye salmon in the Upper Cook Inlet and closures of two regular fishing periods for the East Side Set Net Fleet in the Upper Subdistrict and the Drift Fleet in the Central District. The smaller projection requires staff to manage all stocks more conservatively to best meet escapement goals into the fishery.

The Northern district set gillnet fishery opened June 25th and has a total harvest of 50,939 sockeye and 2,119 chinook salmon.

The Western Subdistrict set gillnet fishery began June 19th. Approximately 31,499 sockeye salmon and 63 chinook salmon have been harvested.

The Kasilof Section of the Upper Subdistrict opened Saturday June 24th while the Kenai and E. Foreland sections opened on July 10th. Approximately 821,999 sockeye salmon and 4,630 chinook salmon have been harvested in these three regions which encompass the east side set gillnet fishery.

The drift gillnet fishery has harvested approximately 876,007 sockeye and 230 chinook since opening on June 19.

Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Fishing Announcement No. 29 and No. 32 reduced fishing time in that portion of the General Subdistrict of the Northern District east of the Susitna River, including Fire Island to commercial fishing from 12 hours to 6 hours. The Little Susitna River coho salmon sustainable escapement goal (SEG) is 10,100-17,700 fish. As of August 16, 2017 the estimated passage of coho salmon through the Little Susitna River weir was 5,816 fish. Based on this level of cumulative passage, a reduction in the commercial harvest of this stock is warranted in order to ensure the SEG is achieved.

For more harvest information please see Upper Cook Inlet Salmon Harvest webpage.

Lower Cook Inlet (LCI)

Pink salmon broodstock harvest is being initiated at both the Port Graham and Tutka Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (CIAA) hatchery facilities. Commercial common property set gillnet harvest began in the Southern District of Lower Cook Inlet on June 1 with commercial purse seine harvest beginning on Monday, June 19 on a schedule of MWF 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM fishing periods. The Kamishak Bay District opened to commercial purse seine harvest on June 1 with daily 24 hour fishing periods occurring. Beginning July 31, portions of the Outer District were opened to commercial purse seine harvest on a schedule of daily 16 hour fishing periods, (6:00 AM to 10:00 PM) 7 days a week. Beginning on August 11, a large portion of the Tutka Hatchery special harvest area (SHA) opened to commercial common property purse seine harvest on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule.

The weir at Bear Creek in Resurrection Bay has been in operation since mid-May. Through August 3, a total of 12,696 sockeye salmon have been counted at the Bear Creek weir. This is within the anticipated range of 6,212 - 13,623 fish for this date. The weir on the English Bay River has been in operation since May 22. Through July 26, a total of 20,751 sockeye salmon have been counted. This is above the anticipated range of 5,885- 13,242 fish for this date and is above the SEG maximum of 13,500 fish. The video monitoring station at Chenik Lake has documented approximately 6,600 sockeye salmon entering the lake from June 16 until approximately noon on July 21. The sustainable escapement goal for this system is 2,900 - 13,700 fish. Typically by this date 77.8% of the escapement has been counted. An aerial survey on July 21 documented 2,000 sockeye salmon in Chenik Lagoon. Harvest from the Chenik Lagoon area to date is approximately 100,000 sockeye salmon.

Timing for all three of these sockeye salmon runs appears to be similar to recent 10-year averages.

Participation levels for lower Cook Inlet commercial set gillnet and purse seine fisheries are anticipated to remain similar to recent years.

Sockeye salmon harvests in the Southern District set gillnet commercial fishery through Saturday, August 12 (31,058) is higher than the 2016 harvest (19,359 fish) for this date , and is also above the previous five year average of 27,599 fish commercially harvested by this date. In 2016 otoliths were sampled from commercial set gillnet sockeye salmon harvests. Of those fish sampled from June 1 through July 30, 29.3% were found to have hatchery thermal marks.

Similar to the set gillnet harvest, purse seine harvest in the Southern District has been robust with 59,738 sockeye salmon delivered from June 19 through August 7. This is an increase from the 47,235 fish harvested during this span of time last year. Last year 49.62% of the sockeye salmon otoliths sampled during the first six weeks of the commercial purse seine season were thermally marked indicating that these fish were of hatchery origin. In addition, 100,000 sockeye salmon have been harvested this season from the Chenik Subdistrict. Chenik Lake was enhanced with hatchery incubated sockeye salmon for 13 years between 1978 and 1996. The average commercial common property harvest over the last ten years from the Chenik Subdistrict is 59,000 sockeye salmon.

Cumulative total pink salmon harvest from the Outer District through week 32, (August 6 - 12) was approximately 422,500 fish harvested this season. On average the total cumulative harvest from the Outer District through week 32 for the last 3 odd year returns has been 38.4% of the final return for those years. This projects to a final Outer District pink salmon harvest of 1.6 million fish. This could put the harvest for this species this year in the top five years since 1970 in terms of the number of pink salmon harvested commercially from the Outer District.

2017 is the return year for 2015 pink salmon which was a record year for Lower Cook Inlet (LCI) in terms of numbers of pink salmon, (6.4 million) harvested by the commercial fleet. The previous odd year, (2013) was also an extremely good year for pink salmon returns with 2.1 million fish landed by the commercial fleet in LCI. Initial harvest and escapement indicators are showing returns that are within the expected range for pink as well as chum salmon. Many escapement index streams for both of these species have already achieved their respective minimum sustainable escapement goals.

For preliminary harvest information for Lower Cook Inlet commercial fisheries please visit the Lower Cook Inlet Daily Harvest webpage.

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Kodiak
Kodiak The Afognak District (except the hatchery areas), the Mainland District, Northeast Kodiak District, Eastside Kodiak District, and the Humpy-Deadman Section Alitak District opened for 102-hours from noon Wednesday, August 16 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20 targeting local pink and chum salmon. The Northwest Kodiak District, Southwest Afognak Section of the Afognak District, Outer Karluk, Sturgeon, and Halibut Bay Sections of the Southwest Kodiak District continue to be extended due to above average local pink and chum salmon escapement, as well as above average Karluk late-run sockeye escapement. The Outer Ayakulik Section of the Southwest Kodiak District was extended until 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20 targeting Ayakulik late-run sockeye salmon. The Inner Ayakulik Section was opened from noon Wednesday, August 16 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20 targeting Ayakulik sockeye. Due to a weaker than expected Kitoi Bay Hatchery pink salmon return, cost recovery fisheries have been suspended will commence until brood stock has been secured. The cumulative Karluk River sockeye salmon escapement through August 17 is approximately 331,000 fish; the late-run escapement is approximately 96,000 fish which is above the desired escapement range for this date. Karluk River Chinook salmon escapement is below the desired range. Non-retention of Chinook salmon has been imposed on the commercial seine fleet from Cape Kuliuk to Low Cape. The cumulative Ayakulik River sockeye salmon escapement through August 17 is approximately 313,000 fish; the late-run escapement is 108,000 fish which is above the desired escapement range for this date. Ayakulik River Chinook salmon escapement is below the desired range. In the Alitak District, the cumulative Upper Station sockeye salmon escapement through August 17 is approximately 138,000 fish; the late-run escapement is approximately 54,000 fish which is within the desired escapement range for this date. Approximately 142,000 Frazer sockeye salmon have been counted which is within the desired escapement range, but below average. However, 325,000 pink salmon passed Dog Salmon River weir which is the largest odd year escapement to date. Pink salmon aerial surveys indicate above average pink salmon escapement to the major systems of the Northwest Kodiak District, and an average amount of pink salmon escapement in the Alitak, Eastside, and Mainland Districts, and below average pink salmon escapement to the Northeast and Afognak Districts. Both seine and gillnet effort is average for this date when compared to recent years. Approximately 1,900,000 sockeye salmon have been harvested through August 17 which is slightly below average for this date. Approximately, 1,700,000 chum salmon have been harvested through August 17 which is well above average for this date. Approximately 14,300,000 pink salmon have been harvested through August 17 which is below average for this date. On average 70% of the Kodiak (odd year) pink salmon harvest has taken place through August 10. This is the weakest pink salmon return to Kitoi Bay Hatchery since the early 1980's. The Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association (KRAA) has suspended cost recovery and focused on collecting brood stock. For detailed daily harvest information please visit the Kodiak Inseason Harvest Estimates webpage. For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Kodiak Management Area webpage. For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

Kodiak

The Afognak District (except the hatchery areas), the Mainland District, Northeast Kodiak District, Eastside Kodiak District, and the Humpy-Deadman Section Alitak District opened for 102-hours from noon Wednesday, August 16 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20 targeting local pink and chum salmon.

The Northwest Kodiak District, Southwest Afognak Section of the Afognak District, Outer Karluk, Sturgeon, and Halibut Bay Sections of the Southwest Kodiak District continue to be extended due to above average local pink and chum salmon escapement, as well as above average Karluk late-run sockeye escapement.

The Outer Ayakulik Section of the Southwest Kodiak District was extended until 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20 targeting Ayakulik late-run sockeye salmon. The Inner Ayakulik Section was opened from noon Wednesday, August 16 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20 targeting Ayakulik sockeye.

Due to a weaker than expected Kitoi Bay Hatchery pink salmon return, cost recovery fisheries have been suspended will commence until brood stock has been secured.

The cumulative Karluk River sockeye salmon escapement through August 17 is approximately 331,000 fish; the late-run escapement is approximately 96,000 fish which is above the desired escapement range for this date. Karluk River Chinook salmon escapement is below the desired range. Non-retention of Chinook salmon has been imposed on the commercial seine fleet from Cape Kuliuk to Low Cape.

The cumulative Ayakulik River sockeye salmon escapement through August 17 is approximately 313,000 fish; the late-run escapement is 108,000 fish which is above the desired escapement range for this date. Ayakulik River Chinook salmon escapement is below the desired range.

In the Alitak District, the cumulative Upper Station sockeye salmon escapement through August 17 is approximately 138,000 fish; the late-run escapement is approximately 54,000 fish which is within the desired escapement range for this date. Approximately 142,000 Frazer sockeye salmon have been counted which is within the desired escapement range, but below average. However, 325,000 pink salmon passed Dog Salmon River weir which is the largest odd year escapement to date.

Pink salmon aerial surveys indicate above average pink salmon escapement to the major systems of the Northwest Kodiak District, and an average amount of pink salmon escapement in the Alitak, Eastside, and Mainland Districts, and below average pink salmon escapement to the Northeast and Afognak Districts.

Both seine and gillnet effort is average for this date when compared to recent years.

Approximately 1,900,000 sockeye salmon have been harvested through August 17 which is slightly below average for this date. Approximately, 1,700,000 chum salmon have been harvested through August 17 which is well above average for this date. Approximately 14,300,000 pink salmon have been harvested through August 17 which is below average for this date. On average 70% of the Kodiak (odd year) pink salmon harvest has taken place through August 10.

This is the weakest pink salmon return to Kitoi Bay Hatchery since the early 1980's. The Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association (KRAA) has suspended cost recovery and focused on collecting brood stock.

For detailed daily harvest information please visit the Kodiak Inseason Harvest Estimates webpage.

For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Kodiak Management Area webpage.

For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

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Alaska Peninsula
North Peninsula A fire in the only shore-based processing facility on the North Peninsula in Port Moller on the evening of August 15 caused wide spread destruction of the processing facilities of Peter Pan Seafood's. No injuries occurred. Another buyer is expected to begin purchasing fish, but strong winds have prevented any fishing or tenders getting to the fishing grounds. The Bear River, Three Hills, and Ilnik sections closed to commercial salmon fishing on August 1 and reopened on August 9 after strong weir counts and aerial surveys determined a harvestable surplus of fish was present. The Nelson Lagoon Section opened on Monday and will remain open until Saturday night. Ilnik River sockeye salmon escapement at the weir was the largest ever with 238,000 fish through the weir, exceeding the escapement goal of 40,000-60,000 fish.Â The Ocean River, a tributary of the Ilnik River system, emptied directly into Ilnik Lagoon this year. Bear River weir counts have remained strong this week. This was the strongest early run sockeye salmon escapement ever recorded at Bear River through July 31 of 586,000 sockeye salmon. The early run escapement goal of 176,000-293,000 was exceeded. The late Bear River sockeye salmon run began August 1 and weir counts in the 7,000-10,000 fish per day range. The escapement goal from August 1-25 is 87,000-165,000 sockeye salmon, presently a total of 136,000 sockeye have passed the weir since August 1. Weir counts at Sandy River were strong and the season ending goal of 34,000-74,000 sockeye salmon was exceeded. About 145,000 sockeye salmon passed the weir which was the second largest escapement on record behind last year's escapement of 170,000 fish.Â The Nelson River sockeye salmon weir counts were also strong with 378,000 fish, the second largest sockeye salmon escapements on record at Nelson River. The escapement goal of 97,000-219,000 sockeye salmon was exceeded. It is likely that the Caribou and David rivers, which are typically early-run systems, made up the bulk of the harvest in Nelson Lagoon over the first few weeks of the fishery in June. Aerials surveys are used to assess the Caribou and David rivers when the fish make it to the clear water where they are visible. An aerial survey revealed about 49,000 sockeye salmon up the Caribou and David rivers combined, a strong escapement for those systems. An aerial survey of Meshik River two weeks ago showed about 175,000 sockeye salmon, the second largest on record, in the river, exceeding the escapement goal is 48,000-86,000 fish. The Cinder River sockeye salmon escapement was 235,000 fish, the largest on record far exceeding the escapement goal of 36,000-94,000 sockeye salmon. The Nelson Lagoon commercial sockeye salmon harvests have dwindled and coho numbers should be picking up this week, but no effort is occurring because of the lack of processing activity in the area due to the fire. In the Bear River, Three Hills, and Ilnik sections, the sockeye salmon harvest was relatively good prior to the fire, about 10,000-25,000 fish per day were harvested from about 50 drift gillnet permit holders and the peak of the late-run at Bear River is typically around August 21-23. Daily processor harvest limits were in effect from June 22 to July 25. In the Outer Port Heiden Section, the sockeye salmon harvest was about 508,000 sockeye salmon fish and closed by regulation on July 31. All local sockeye salmon runs with weirs were very strong. Harvest levels are above average for this date and exceeded the preseason harvest projections of 2.4 million sockeye salmon. About 3.6 million sockeye salmon have been caught in the entire North Peninsula to date. On June 22, the major shore-based processor in Port Moller put the fleet on harvest limits and those limits remained until July 25. A fire in the only shore-based processing facility on the North Peninsula in Port Moller on the evening of August 15 caused wide spread destruction of the processing facilities of Peter Pan Seafood's. No injuries occurred. Another buyer is expected to begin purchasing fish, but strong winds have prevented any fishing or tenders getting to the fishing grounds. For inseason harvest information please see Alaska Peninsula Inseason Commercial Harvest Estimates. For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Alaska Peninsula Management Area webpage. For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage. South Peninsula Commercial salmon fishing was opened from 12:00 PM, August 12 until further notice in the Unimak, Southcentral, and Southwestern Districts, as well as, the Shumagin Islands Section of the Southeastern District. Commercial salmon fishing opened for 132 hours from 9:00 AM, August 15 until 9:00 PM, August 20 in the Beaver Bay, Balboa Bay, Southwest Stepovak, Northwest Stepovak, and East Stepovak sections of the Southeastern District. Commercial salmon fishing was opened from 6:00 AM, August 17 until further notice in the Bechevin Bay Section of the Northwestern District. The McLees Lake weir began counting fish on June 10 and concluded counts on July 29 with a cumulative escapement of 13,195 sockeye salmon. Though the escapement is below average, however the lower end of the escapement goal range (10,000-60,000 fish) was achieved. The Orzinski River weir began counting fish on June 16 and concluded counts on August 3 with a season total of 20,898 sockeye salmon which exceeds the escapement goal range (15,000-20,000 fish). Aerial streams survey escapement estimates are underway for sockeye, pink, and chum salmon. Sockeye salmon escapement estimates are average, while chum salmon escapement estimates are above average and have exceeded the district based escapement goals. Pink salmon escapement estimates are below the minimum area wide escapement goal of 1.75 million fish but area management staff is confident that the goal will be met when peak escapement surveys are conducted later this month. Following the commercial fishing period of July 30-July 31, processors have announced delivery limits for the fishermen participating in the August pink and chum salmon fisheries based out of Sand Point and King Cove, Alaska. Participation levels of seine permit holders have remained consistent with previous years and participation of set net permit holders has dropped significantly within the past week. Sockeye, pink, and chum salmon harvest is above average for this date and represent 16% (3,146,191 fish), 74% (14,899,944 fish), and 9% (1,802,193 fish) of the total harvest (20,169,596 fish) respectively. Chinook and coho salmon harvest represent less than 2% of the total harvest. The sockeye harvest is the highest within the previous 10 years while pink and chum salmon harvest is tracking in the top 5 of their respective harvest records. The allocation period of the June and Post- June salmon management plans expired on July 25 and the South Alaska Peninsula is being managed based on local stocks of pink and chum salmon. The pink salmon forecast estimated a total run of 15.6 million and harvest of 11.6 million pink salmon for the 2017 season. Current cumulative harvest as of August 16 is at 14,899,944 million pink salmon and to-date escapement estimate of 1,272,795 pink salmon for a preliminary total run estimate of 16,172,739 pink salmon, exceeding the forecast with several weeks of the fishing season remaining. For inseason harvest information please see Alaska Peninsula Inseason Commercial Harvest Estimates. For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Alaska Peninsula Management Area webpage. For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

Alaska Peninsula

North Peninsula

A fire in the only shore-based processing facility on the North Peninsula in Port Moller on the evening of August 15 caused wide spread destruction of the processing facilities of Peter Pan Seafood's. No injuries occurred. Another buyer is expected to begin purchasing fish, but strong winds have prevented any fishing or tenders getting to the fishing grounds. The Bear River, Three Hills, and Ilnik sections closed to commercial salmon fishing on August 1 and reopened on August 9 after strong weir counts and aerial surveys determined a harvestable surplus of fish was present. The Nelson Lagoon Section opened on Monday and will remain open until Saturday night.

Ilnik River sockeye salmon escapement at the weir was the largest ever with 238,000 fish through the weir, exceeding the escapement goal of 40,000-60,000 fish.Â The Ocean River, a tributary of the Ilnik River system, emptied directly into Ilnik Lagoon this year. Bear River weir counts have remained strong this week. This was the strongest early run sockeye salmon escapement ever recorded at Bear River through July 31 of 586,000 sockeye salmon. The early run escapement goal of 176,000-293,000 was exceeded. The late Bear River sockeye salmon run began August 1 and weir counts in the 7,000-10,000 fish per day range. The escapement goal from August 1-25 is 87,000-165,000 sockeye salmon, presently a total of 136,000 sockeye have passed the weir since August 1. Weir counts at Sandy River were strong and the season ending goal of 34,000-74,000 sockeye salmon was exceeded. About 145,000 sockeye salmon passed the weir which was the second largest escapement on record behind last year's escapement of 170,000 fish.Â The Nelson River sockeye salmon weir counts were also strong with 378,000 fish, the second largest sockeye salmon escapements on record at Nelson River. The escapement goal of 97,000-219,000 sockeye salmon was exceeded. It is likely that the Caribou and David rivers, which are typically early-run systems, made up the bulk of the harvest in Nelson Lagoon over the first few weeks of the fishery in June. Aerials surveys are used to assess the Caribou and David rivers when the fish make it to the clear water where they are visible. An aerial survey revealed about 49,000 sockeye salmon up the Caribou and David rivers combined, a strong escapement for those systems. An aerial survey of Meshik River two weeks ago showed about 175,000 sockeye salmon, the second largest on record, in the river, exceeding the escapement goal is 48,000-86,000 fish. The Cinder River sockeye salmon escapement was 235,000 fish, the largest on record far exceeding the escapement goal of 36,000-94,000 sockeye salmon.

The Nelson Lagoon commercial sockeye salmon harvests have dwindled and coho numbers should be picking up this week, but no effort is occurring because of the lack of processing activity in the area due to the fire. In the Bear River, Three Hills, and Ilnik sections, the sockeye salmon harvest was relatively good prior to the fire, about 10,000-25,000 fish per day were harvested from about 50 drift gillnet permit holders and the peak of the late-run at Bear River is typically around August 21-23. Daily processor harvest limits were in effect from June 22 to July 25. In the Outer Port Heiden Section, the sockeye salmon harvest was about 508,000 sockeye salmon fish and closed by regulation on July 31.

All local sockeye salmon runs with weirs were very strong. Harvest levels are above average for this date and exceeded the preseason harvest projections of 2.4 million sockeye salmon. About 3.6 million sockeye salmon have been caught in the entire North Peninsula to date.

On June 22, the major shore-based processor in Port Moller put the fleet on harvest limits and those limits remained until July 25. A fire in the only shore-based processing facility on the North Peninsula in Port Moller on the evening of August 15 caused wide spread destruction of the processing facilities of Peter Pan Seafood's. No injuries occurred. Another buyer is expected to begin purchasing fish, but strong winds have prevented any fishing or tenders getting to the fishing grounds.

For inseason harvest information please see Alaska Peninsula Inseason Commercial Harvest Estimates.

For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Alaska Peninsula Management Area webpage.

For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

South Peninsula

Commercial salmon fishing was opened from 12:00 PM, August 12 until further notice in the Unimak, Southcentral, and Southwestern Districts, as well as, the Shumagin Islands Section of the Southeastern District. Commercial salmon fishing opened for 132 hours from 9:00 AM, August 15 until 9:00 PM, August 20 in the Beaver Bay, Balboa Bay, Southwest Stepovak, Northwest Stepovak, and East Stepovak sections of the Southeastern District. Commercial salmon fishing was opened from 6:00 AM, August 17 until further notice in the Bechevin Bay Section of the Northwestern District.

The McLees Lake weir began counting fish on June 10 and concluded counts on July 29 with a cumulative escapement of 13,195 sockeye salmon. Though the escapement is below average, however the lower end of the escapement goal range (10,000-60,000 fish) was achieved. The Orzinski River weir began counting fish on June 16 and concluded counts on August 3 with a season total of 20,898 sockeye salmon which exceeds the escapement goal range (15,000-20,000 fish).

Aerial streams survey escapement estimates are underway for sockeye, pink, and chum salmon. Sockeye salmon escapement estimates are average, while chum salmon escapement estimates are above average and have exceeded the district based escapement goals. Pink salmon escapement estimates are below the minimum area wide escapement goal of 1.75 million fish but area management staff is confident that the goal will be met when peak escapement surveys are conducted later this month.

Following the commercial fishing period of July 30-July 31, processors have announced delivery limits for the fishermen participating in the August pink and chum salmon fisheries based out of Sand Point and King Cove, Alaska. Participation levels of seine permit holders have remained consistent with previous years and participation of set net permit holders has dropped significantly within the past week.

Sockeye, pink, and chum salmon harvest is above average for this date and represent 16% (3,146,191 fish), 74% (14,899,944 fish), and 9% (1,802,193 fish) of the total harvest (20,169,596 fish) respectively. Chinook and coho salmon harvest represent less than 2% of the total harvest. The sockeye harvest is the highest within the previous 10 years while pink and chum salmon harvest is tracking in the top 5 of their respective harvest records.

The allocation period of the June and Post- June salmon management plans expired on July 25 and the South Alaska Peninsula is being managed based on local stocks of pink and chum salmon. The pink salmon forecast estimated a total run of 15.6 million and harvest of 11.6 million pink salmon for the 2017 season. Current cumulative harvest as of August 16 is at 14,899,944 million pink salmon and to-date escapement estimate of 1,272,795 pink salmon for a preliminary total run estimate of 16,172,739 pink salmon, exceeding the forecast with several weeks of the fishing season remaining.

For inseason harvest information please see Alaska Peninsula Inseason Commercial Harvest Estimates.

For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Alaska Peninsula Management Area webpage.

For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

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Chignik
Chignik A commercial fishing period in the Chignik Bay, Central, Western and Perryville districts during the previous week was extended for 48 hours and also opened the Eastern district of the Chignik Management Area (CMA). This fishing period closed at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 11. After a 48-hour closure the Chignik Bay, Central, Eastern, Western and Perryville districts opened to commercial salmon fishing for approximately 78 hours on Monday, August 14. A 96-hour extension has been announced and the fishery is currently scheduled to close at 11:59 p.m. Monday, August 21. Through 8:00 a.m. August 17, approximately 730,800 sockeye salmon have passed the weir. Sockeye salmon escapement is slightly above the most recent 10-year average. To determine the overlap of the early and late Chignik River sockeye salmon runs, genetic samples are taken at the weir during the peak of the overlap period (mid-June through late July). The Department has collected six genetic samples from sockeye salmon at the weir this year and has proportioned the runs into early and late run totals. The estimated early run escapement through July 31(the end of the early run) was 453,257 and has exceeded the season escapement goal of 350,000-450,000. Through 8:00 a.m. August 17, the estimated late run escapement was 277,600 fish. The August 17 interim escapement objective is 204,000-348,000 fish for the late run. Although the late run is meeting interim escapement objectives, it does appear to be below average at this time. The 2017 Chignik River early sockeye salmon run is forecasted to be 1.26 million fish with an estimated harvest of 866,000 sockeye salmon. The 2017 Chignik River late run is forecasted to be 938,000 fish with an estimated harvest of 600,000 fish. The Chignik River Chinook salmon escapement goal is 1,300-2,700 fish. Chinook salmon escapement has been poor this season. Through 8:00 a.m. August 17, an estimated 1,100 Chinook salmon have passed the weir. The sport fishery was restricted to catch and release only on July 14 and closed completely on July 23. In the commercial fishery, fishermen in the Chignik Bay and Central districts have been required to release Chinook salmon greater than 28 inches caught in the commercial fishery. State and federal subsistence fishing was also closed to Chinook salmon in the Chignik River drainage beginning on July 23. Aerial surveys of the Eastern, Central, Western, and Perryville districts occurred on August 11. Another survey of the Western and Perryville districts occurred on August 16. Chum salmon in the Central, Western and Perryville districts have met escapement objectives. Pink salmon in these districts are still entering local streams and appear to be on track to meet escapement goals at this time. The Eastern District has received large amounts of rain since the beginning of August and many of the larger systems were muddy and could not be surveyed. Smaller, clearer systems showed that pink and chum salmon were still entering streams as expected. Based on this and harvest information from August 10 and 11, it is likely that escapement is on track even in the systems that could not be surveyed. Approximately 66 of the 94 registered permits in the Chignik Management Area have actively participated in this season's fishery. Participation in the fishery is beginning to decrease and several permits have quit fishing since the beginning of August. From June 1 until July 25 sockeye salmon harvested in areas adjacent to the CMA are considered bound for Chignik. The Cape Igvak Section of Area K has had two 48-hour commercial salmon fishing periods. The last fishing period in Igvak ended on June 24. The last fishing period in the Southeastern District Mainland (SEDM) of Area M ended on the morning of June 21. Approximately 130,854 sockeye salmon have been harvested in Igvak this season. The cumulative sockeye salmon harvest during the allocation period for SEDM is 56,433 fish. The Cape Igvak and SEDM sockeye salmon harvest allocation percentages are currently at 14.0% and 6.7%, respectively. For the week of August 11 through August 16 harvest by species was: 29 Chinook, 30,797 sockeye, 30,928 coho, 1,325,778 pink and 43,662 chum salmon. The 2017 cumulative harvest for the Chignik Management Area is: 3,820 Chinook, 806,870 sockeye, 73,287 coho, 3,807,141 pink salmon and 521,182 chum salmon. Daily sockeye salmon harvest levels have been about average for this time of year. Pink salmon harvest levels have been above average in the CMA this year. The majority of sockeye salmon harvest has occurred in the Western district. Daily harvest of pink salmon typically begin to drop off in mid-August; however harvest continued to stay strong and above average for the week of August 11 through 16. For more harvest information please see Chignik Inseason Commercial Harvest Estimates webpage. For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Chignik Management Area webpage. For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

Chignik

A commercial fishing period in the Chignik Bay, Central, Western and Perryville districts during the previous week was extended for 48 hours and also opened the Eastern district of the Chignik Management Area (CMA). This fishing period closed at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 11. After a 48-hour closure the Chignik Bay, Central, Eastern, Western and Perryville districts opened to commercial salmon fishing for approximately 78 hours on Monday, August 14. A 96-hour extension has been announced and the fishery is currently scheduled to close at 11:59 p.m. Monday, August 21.

Through 8:00 a.m. August 17, approximately 730,800 sockeye salmon have passed the weir. Sockeye salmon escapement is slightly above the most recent 10-year average. To determine the overlap of the early and late Chignik River sockeye salmon runs, genetic samples are taken at the weir during the peak of the overlap period (mid-June through late July). The Department has collected six genetic samples from sockeye salmon at the weir this year and has proportioned the runs into early and late run totals. The estimated early run escapement through July 31(the end of the early run) was 453,257 and has exceeded the season escapement goal of 350,000-450,000. Through 8:00 a.m. August 17, the estimated late run escapement was 277,600 fish. The August 17 interim escapement objective is 204,000-348,000 fish for the late run. Although the late run is meeting interim escapement objectives, it does appear to be below average at this time.

The 2017 Chignik River early sockeye salmon run is forecasted to be 1.26 million fish with an estimated harvest of 866,000 sockeye salmon. The 2017 Chignik River late run is forecasted to be 938,000 fish with an estimated harvest of 600,000 fish.

The Chignik River Chinook salmon escapement goal is 1,300-2,700 fish. Chinook salmon escapement has been poor this season. Through 8:00 a.m. August 17, an estimated 1,100 Chinook salmon have passed the weir. The sport fishery was restricted to catch and release only on July 14 and closed completely on July 23. In the commercial fishery, fishermen in the Chignik Bay and Central districts have been required to release Chinook salmon greater than 28 inches caught in the commercial fishery. State and federal subsistence fishing was also closed to Chinook salmon in the Chignik River drainage beginning on July 23.

Aerial surveys of the Eastern, Central, Western, and Perryville districts occurred on August 11. Another survey of the Western and Perryville districts occurred on August 16. Chum salmon in the Central, Western and Perryville districts have met escapement objectives. Pink salmon in these districts are still entering local streams and appear to be on track to meet escapement goals at this time. The Eastern District has received large amounts of rain since the beginning of August and many of the larger systems were muddy and could not be surveyed. Smaller, clearer systems showed that pink and chum salmon were still entering streams as expected. Based on this and harvest information from August 10 and 11, it is likely that escapement is on track even in the systems that could not be surveyed.

Approximately 66 of the 94 registered permits in the Chignik Management Area have actively participated in this season's fishery. Participation in the fishery is beginning to decrease and several permits have quit fishing since the beginning of August.

From June 1 until July 25 sockeye salmon harvested in areas adjacent to the CMA are considered bound for Chignik. The Cape Igvak Section of Area K has had two 48-hour commercial salmon fishing periods. The last fishing period in Igvak ended on June 24. The last fishing period in the Southeastern District Mainland (SEDM) of Area M ended on the morning of June 21. Approximately 130,854 sockeye salmon have been harvested in Igvak this season. The cumulative sockeye salmon harvest during the allocation period for SEDM is 56,433 fish. The Cape Igvak and SEDM sockeye salmon harvest allocation percentages are currently at 14.0% and 6.7%, respectively.

For the week of August 11 through August 16 harvest by species was: 29 Chinook, 30,797 sockeye, 30,928 coho, 1,325,778 pink and 43,662 chum salmon. The 2017 cumulative harvest for the Chignik Management Area is: 3,820 Chinook, 806,870 sockeye, 73,287 coho, 3,807,141 pink salmon and 521,182 chum salmon.

Daily sockeye salmon harvest levels have been about average for this time of year. Pink salmon harvest levels have been above average in the CMA this year. The majority of sockeye salmon harvest has occurred in the Western district.

Daily harvest of pink salmon typically begin to drop off in mid-August; however harvest continued to stay strong and above average for the week of August 11 through 16.

For more harvest information please see Chignik Inseason Commercial Harvest Estimates webpage.

For more information, please visit the ADF&G website for the Chignik Management Area webpage.

For News Releases detailing the specific information related to the fishery visit the News Releases webpage.

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Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim
Yukon River The current fall chum salmon run has exceeded the preseason projection of over 1.1 million fish. During the past week, an extremely large group of 947,000 fall chum salmon entered the Yukon River over 4 days resulting in the highest fall chum salmon commercial catch rates in Yukon River history. The frequency of commercial periods and fishing time were limited by the buyers' capacity in the Lower Yukon. The Lower Yukon transitioned to fall season management on July 16. In the Lower Yukon, commercial fishermen may use six inch or smaller mesh size gillnets during the fall chum salmon directed commercial fishery. This week in District 1, there has been three commercial periods ranging from 4 to 9 hours. Preliminary commercial harvest from this week is 107,486 fall chum and 10,927 coho salmon from an average of 213 fishermen. This week in District 2, there has been three commercial periods that were 1 to 2 hours in total fishing time. Preliminary commercial harvest from this week is 40,567 fall chum and 2,488 coho salmon from an average of 72 fishermen. Preliminary commercial harvest in District 1 is 255,324 fall chum and 13,698 coho salmon, which is a new fall chum salmon harvest record for District 1. Preliminary commercial harvest in District 2 is 82,224 fall chum and 3,610 coho salmon. The Lower Yukon commercial harvest is 337,548 fall chum and 17,308 coho salmon. The current fall chum salmon commercial harvest in the Lower Yukon is 82,000 fish above last year's harvest for this date, which turned out as a record season for fall chum salmon harvest in 2016. The fall chum salmon commercial fishery in Upper Yukon is active in Subdistricts 4-A, 5-B, and 5-C on the Yukon River, as well as District 6 on the Tanana River. In the Upper Yukon, commercial fishermen may use fish wheels or six inch or smaller mesh size gillnets during the fall season. Preliminary cumulative harvest in the Upper Yukon is 8,248 fall chum salmon. The fall chum salmon commercial fishery in Subdistrict 4-A occurred from July 29 to August 14. Preliminary commercial harvest is 7,304 fall chum salmon from an average of 4 fishermen. In Subdistricts 5-B and 5-C, the fall chum salmon commercial fishery began August 4 and is open 24 hours per day until further notice. Preliminary commercial harvest is 944 fall chum salmon from 4 fishermen. The fall chum salmon commercial fishery in District 6 of the Upper Yukon began on August 11. No fishing activity has been reported at this time. As of August 17 during the fall season, the estimated passage at the sonar project near Pilot Station in the lower Yukon River is 1.5 million fall chum and 63,500 coho salmon. The estimated passage of Chinook salmon run is over 262,000 and has exceeded the upper end of the preseason outlook of 195,000 fish. The estimated passage of summer chum salmon was over 3.0 million, which exceeded the upper end of the preseason outlook of 2.5 million fish. The Yukon Area preliminary cumulative commercial harvest as of August 17 is 17,308 coho salmon and 892,354 chum salmon comprised of 546,558 summer chum and 345,796 fall chum salmon. Kuskokwim River Unrestricted subsistence salmon fishing in the mainstem of the Kuskokwim River went into place Thursday, July 27, 2017. However, subsistence fishing with gillnets in the Kwethluk, Kasigluk, Kisaralik, Tuluksak, and Aniak River drainages remains closed at this time. Also, subsistence hook and line fishing for Chinook salmon remains closed in the tributaries mentioned above. There was a commercial salmon fishing period on Monday, August 14, 2017 in subdistrict 1-A. This was intended for the catcher/seller that has registered in the area. Coho salmon abundance at the Bethel Test Fishery appears to have a late run timing and slightly below average. Escapements at area weir projects are beginning to increase at this time. There is no commercial buyer in the area at this time. We do not have data for the harvest in the subsistence salmon fishery at this time. Due to there only being a single catcher/seller registered in the area, harvest is confidential. For more information please see the 2017 Kuskokwim River Chinook Salmon Outlook (PDF 220 kB). Norton Sound In Norton Sound, the coho salmon run has continued to come in well above average, with an average poundage this week of 6.9 pounds per fish that is still below the historical average of 7.5 pounds per fish. Catches have continued to be average to well above average in most subdistricts. We are at the historical midpoint of the coho salmon harvest and it still looks like another Top 10 harvest. We have exceeded 100,000 coho salmon harvested for the fourth year in a row. The department forecast was for a harvest of 90,000 to 120,000 coho salmon. Escapements have also continued to be above average. Heavy rains are not expected to knock out more projects this coming week. Over the last week another project has completed operations for the 2017 season. For more information please see the 2017 Norton Sound Salmon Fisheries Outlook and Management Strategies (PDF 384 kB). Kotzebue The commercial chum salmon harvest now ranks as the 7th highest all-time and may finish as high as 6th best in 56-year history of the fishery. We have exceeded 400,000 chum salmon harvested for the second year in a row. The department forecast was for a harvest of 250,000 to 450,000 chum salmon. The Kobuk River test fish has not had high catches like last week, but the cumulative test net catch index is still above average and continues to rank 8th highest in project history. Extra processing capacity has continued to allow for additional fishing time and there are two weeks left in the 2017 season. For more information please see the 2017 Kotzebue Sound Salmon Management Plan (PDF 161 kB).

Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim

Yukon River

The current fall chum salmon run has exceeded the preseason projection of over 1.1 million fish. During the past week, an extremely large group of 947,000 fall chum salmon entered the Yukon River over 4 days resulting in the highest fall chum salmon commercial catch rates in Yukon River history. The frequency of commercial periods and fishing time were limited by the buyers' capacity in the Lower Yukon.

The Lower Yukon transitioned to fall season management on July 16. In the Lower Yukon, commercial fishermen may use six inch or smaller mesh size gillnets during the fall chum salmon directed commercial fishery. This week in District 1, there has been three commercial periods ranging from 4 to 9 hours. Preliminary commercial harvest from this week is 107,486 fall chum and 10,927 coho salmon from an average of 213 fishermen. This week in District 2, there has been three commercial periods that were 1 to 2 hours in total fishing time. Preliminary commercial harvest from this week is 40,567 fall chum and 2,488 coho salmon from an average of 72 fishermen. Preliminary commercial harvest in District 1 is 255,324 fall chum and 13,698 coho salmon, which is a new fall chum salmon harvest record for District 1. Preliminary commercial harvest in District 2 is 82,224 fall chum and 3,610 coho salmon. The Lower Yukon commercial harvest is 337,548 fall chum and 17,308 coho salmon. The current fall chum salmon commercial harvest in the Lower Yukon is 82,000 fish above last year's harvest for this date, which turned out as a record season for fall chum salmon harvest in 2016.

The fall chum salmon commercial fishery in Upper Yukon is active in Subdistricts 4-A, 5-B, and 5-C on the Yukon River, as well as District 6 on the Tanana River. In the Upper Yukon, commercial fishermen may use fish wheels or six inch or smaller mesh size gillnets during the fall season. Preliminary cumulative harvest in the Upper Yukon is 8,248 fall chum salmon.

The fall chum salmon commercial fishery in Subdistrict 4-A occurred from July 29 to August 14. Preliminary commercial harvest is 7,304 fall chum salmon from an average of 4 fishermen.

In Subdistricts 5-B and 5-C, the fall chum salmon commercial fishery began August 4 and is open 24 hours per day until further notice. Preliminary commercial harvest is 944 fall chum salmon from 4 fishermen.

The fall chum salmon commercial fishery in District 6 of the Upper Yukon began on August 11. No fishing activity has been reported at this time.

As of August 17 during the fall season, the estimated passage at the sonar project near Pilot Station in the lower Yukon River is 1.5 million fall chum and 63,500 coho salmon. The estimated passage of Chinook salmon run is over 262,000 and has exceeded the upper end of the preseason outlook of 195,000 fish. The estimated passage of summer chum salmon was over 3.0 million, which exceeded the upper end of the preseason outlook of 2.5 million fish.

The Yukon Area preliminary cumulative commercial harvest as of August 17 is 17,308 coho salmon and 892,354 chum salmon comprised of 546,558 summer chum and 345,796 fall chum salmon.

Kuskokwim River

Unrestricted subsistence salmon fishing in the mainstem of the Kuskokwim River went into place Thursday, July 27, 2017. However, subsistence fishing with gillnets in the Kwethluk, Kasigluk, Kisaralik, Tuluksak, and Aniak River drainages remains closed at this time. Also, subsistence hook and line fishing for Chinook salmon remains closed in the tributaries mentioned above.

There was a commercial salmon fishing period on Monday, August 14, 2017 in subdistrict 1-A. This was intended for the catcher/seller that has registered in the area.

Coho salmon abundance at the Bethel Test Fishery appears to have a late run timing and slightly below average. Escapements at area weir projects are beginning to increase at this time.

There is no commercial buyer in the area at this time.

We do not have data for the harvest in the subsistence salmon fishery at this time.

Due to there only being a single catcher/seller registered in the area, harvest is confidential.

For more information please see the 2017 Kuskokwim River Chinook Salmon Outlook (PDF 220 kB).

Norton Sound

In Norton Sound, the coho salmon run has continued to come in well above average, with an average poundage this week of 6.9 pounds per fish that is still below the historical average of 7.5 pounds per fish. Catches have continued to be average to well above average in most subdistricts. We are at the historical midpoint of the coho salmon harvest and it still looks like another Top 10 harvest. We have exceeded 100,000 coho salmon harvested for the fourth year in a row. The department forecast was for a harvest of 90,000 to 120,000 coho salmon. Escapements have also continued to be above average. Heavy rains are not expected to knock out more projects this coming week. Over the last week another project has completed operations for the 2017 season.

For more information please see the 2017 Norton Sound Salmon Fisheries Outlook and Management Strategies (PDF 384 kB).

Kotzebue

The commercial chum salmon harvest now ranks as the 7th highest all-time and may finish as high as 6th best in 56-year history of the fishery. We have exceeded 400,000 chum salmon harvested for the second year in a row. The department forecast was for a harvest of 250,000 to 450,000 chum salmon. The Kobuk River test fish has not had high catches like last week, but the cumulative test net catch index is still above average and continues to rank 8th highest in project history. Extra processing capacity has continued to allow for additional fishing time and there are two weeks left in the 2017 season.

For more information please see the 2017 Kotzebue Sound Salmon Management Plan (PDF 161 kB).

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