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Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting in Kodiak

10Jan

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Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting in Kodiak

New management proposals for salmon, sablefish and herring are on the table as the Alaska Board of Fisheries meetings at the Kodiak Marketplace in downtown Kodiak through Friday, Jan. 12. A total of 30 proposals, including over a dozen on salmon management around Kodiak, are on the table for the meeting, which began Tuesday, Jan. 9. A number of reports on the agenda range from a review of salmon escapement goals in the Kodiak Management area to the Kodiak management area commercial salmon fishery annual management report, plus a Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission report on permit holdings and estimates of gross earnings in Kodiak commercial salmon fisheries from 1975 through 2022. The meeting is open to the public, and a live video stream is set to be available at the ADF&a...

Preseason Vessel Registration for Alaska Shellfish Fisheries Begins Aug. 18

16Aug

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Preseason Vessel Registration for Alaska Shellfish Fisheries Begins Aug. 18

Preseason vessel registration begins this Friday, Aug. 18, for the 2023-2024 Bristol Bay red king crab, Eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab, Western Bering Sea Tanner crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries. Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) biologists say registration is necessary to determine the number of observers needed to meet fishery coverage goals, and does not imply a fishery will be opened. The first observer training program for this season is planned for Sept. 18 through Oct. 6. For this season, ADF&G has modified the vessel selection plan for the Bristol Bay red king crab, Bering Sea snow, Eastern and Western Bairdi Tanner crab fisheries. To ensure observer coverage goals are met, all vessels pre-season registered for these fisheries will be selected f...

14Jun

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Copper River Reds Still in High Demand

Demand for Copper River sockeye salmon fillets remains high, with some shoppers ordering on average 12-15 pounds of the succulent fish at $12.95 a pound, as salmon aficionados remain mindful that when they’re gone, they’re gone. The celebrated red salmon fillets, in what is well known as the season opener for commercial salmon fishing in Alaska, was selling in mid-June for $11.95 a pound at Costco stores, $12.95 a pound at 10th & M Seafoods, $13.99 a pound at New Sagaya, all in Anchorage, and $29.99 a pound at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. Fishmongers at 10th & M Seafoods in Anchorage said sockeye fillet orders were averaging 12-15 pounds, while at Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market orders were averaging three-to-five pounds. The online seafood market FishEx in Ancho...

Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery Harvests Just Over One Third of 30,000 Ton GHL

19Apr

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Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery Harvests Just Over One Third of 30,000 Ton GHL

The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is officially over for 2023, with early estimates for the season’s harvest at just under 11,000 tons, or about one third of the state’s 30,000-ton guideline harvest level. The commercial seine fishery is located in the Southeast Region of Alaska in the Southeast/Yakatat-Southeast section. Aerial surveys are to continue until no more active spawn is observed, but the commercial fishery remains closed for this year. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is expected to publish a season summary in the coming weeks. State biologists said in an April 12 announcement that a season summary advisory announcement would be issued following the conclusion of aerial, vessel and dive surveys. The 23rd and last update on the harvest was published...

Sitka Sound Herring Harvesters Deliver First 10,900 Tons of 30,000 Ton Allowable Harvest

12Apr

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Sitka Sound Herring Harvesters Deliver First 10,900 Tons of 30,000 Ton Allowable Harvest

Harvesters working the Sitka Sound commercial herring fishery have so far brought in about 10,900 tons of herring, just a little over the 30,000-ton catch set for the season by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). That preliminary harvest total was announced on Saturday, April 8, the latest date of a recorded harvest in the herring fishery in Southeast Alaska, with a note that1,600 tons of that total were harvested during the fishery that occurred on April 7. No herring were harvested on April 9 amid scattered showers with 20 knot southeast winds and skies cloudy, and the same weather pattern continued on April 10. ADF&G biologists said that herring mortality associated with test sets was likely minimal and there was no evidence that the small number of fish taken h...

ADF&G Sets 2023 Annual Harvest Allocation for Chinook Troll Fishery

5Apr

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ADF&G Sets 2023 Annual Harvest Allocation for Chinook Troll Fishery

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) on March 30 set the 2023 all-gear allowable harvest limit for Southeast Alaska/Yakutat (SEAK) under Chinook salmon management provisions of the 2019-2028 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement at 201,900 treaty Chinook salmon. The 2% reduction from last year’s allocation is to serve as a buffer against exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions within the treaty. The resulting 2023 troll harvest allocation for this year will be 149,100 Chinooks, which is 44,100 fish less that the preseason limit that was available in 2022. ADF&G also said annual catch limits for the SEAK Chinook fishery would be established using measures of Chinook abundance, using the catch per unit effort from the winter power troll fishery in District 113 dur...

Update on Hatchery Fish Impact on Wild Salmon Due in 2023

4Jan

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Update on Hatchery Fish Impact on Wild Salmon Due in 2023

Researchers with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) in Vancouver, Canada, said they anticipate including the latest hatcheries related research in their upcoming 2023-2027 science plan, in hope the data would be used to improve management to support salmon stocks. “Scientists are focused on density dependent and carry capacity issues to understand how salmon growth and survival are affected by hatchery and wild salmon abundance and quantify the current limits to salmon production at each life stage,” NPAFC Executive Director Vladimir Radchenko said. “The ability of the Pacific Ocean to produce salmon is not constant, and for the most part, the limits are not known,” he explained. “A general concern is that competition among different salmon populations may lead to low...

Cook Inlet Commercial Salmon Fishery Run Exceeds Preseason Forecast

14Dec

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Cook Inlet Commercial Salmon Fishery Run Exceeds Preseason Forecast

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s preliminary summary of the Upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishery shows the area’s sockeye salmon total run of 5.2 million fish was 6% greater than the preseason forecast of 4.9 million fish. The commercial salmon fishery harvest of 1.4 million salmon however was 44% less than the recent 10-year average annual harvest of 2.5 million fish. The 2022 ex-vessel value of all salmon species was $12.3 million and 535 less than the previous 10-year average annual ex-vessel value of $23.0 million. ADF&G biologists said that of the five species of Pacific salmon harvested in Upper Cook Inlet the sockeye salmon accounted for 91% of the total ex-vessel value over the past decade. The 2022 chinook salmon harvest of 2,278 fish is the lowest on reco...

Tanner Crab Fishery Opens Jan. 15 in One Section of Eastern Aleutian District

7Dec

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Tanner Crab Fishery Opens Jan. 15 in One Section of Eastern Aleutian District

A Tanner crab fishery opens on Jan. 15 in the Makushin/Skan Bay section of the Eastern Aleutian District, but is to remain closed in the Akutan and Unalaska/Kalekta Bay sections for lack of sufficient mature male abundance. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists said the 2022 survey of estimated mature male abundance managed to exceed regulatory thresholds necessary for a commercial crab season in the Makushin/Skan section and calculated guideline harvest level (GHL). That 2023 fishery now has a GHL of 49,000 pounds. A commercial Tanner crab fishery may occur when estimated abundance of mature male Tanner crab meets or exceeds stock size thresholds established in regulation and requires a GHL of at least 10,000 pounds in the Makushin/Skan Bay and Akutan Sections and 15,000 pound...

30Nov

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Alaska Fisheries Board Meeting Focuses on Bristol Bay Finfish

Bristol Bay finfish are on the agenda this week during a five-day meeting running through Dec. 3 at the Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting in downtown Anchorage. Hot topics include whether to approve an action plan designating Nushagak River Chinook salmon as a stock of concern. All portions of the meeting are open to the public. A live video stream is expected to be available on the board’s website at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. All meeting information including the agenda, roadmap, agency reports, and public and advisory committee comments are available on the meeting website at: https://tinyurl.com/3n5sdrxr or by contacting Boards Support Section at (907) 465-4110. People not attending the meeting in person can still submit Record Copies via fax or on the board's webs...