Tag: bristolbay

The University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute (UW-FRI) on Aug. 18 issued a preliminary preseason 2024 forecast run of 38.9 million Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, with a harvest of 26.4 million fish. The forecasted run would be 32% below the 2013-2022 10-year average, with the fish weighing an average of 5.5 pounds, according to the forecast. The UW-FRI report is based on 2023 daily in-season data from Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports. The preliminary preseason forecast suggests that 63% of the total 2024 Bristol Bay run will be 2-ocean sockeye and 37% 3-ocean sockeye. The standard UW-FRI Preseason Forecast, slated for release in November, is to include abundance estimates by age class for all nine rivers in Bristol Bay, plus anticipated 2024 harvest in num...

State of Alaska officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) veto of a Clean Water Act permit needed for construction of the Pebble copper, gold and molybdenum mine on property abutting the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery. The “bill of complaint” filed by the state on July 26 argues that the EPA’s decision violates the state’s right to develop its natural resources for the maximum benefit of its people. “Bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are exercising unbridled and unlawful power to choke off any further discussion on this important decision affecting so many Alaskans,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said.  “It’s an indefensible and unprecedented power grab that the U.S. Supreme Court should find unlawful,” Alaska Attorney General Treg ...

Harvesters and processors in Alaska’s Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery are at odds over the 50 cents per pound that processors are offering for the robust catch, a price harvesters say will leave them with little, if any, income after expenses are paid. Processors have cited not only their increased cost of doing business, but the large amount of the 2022 catch still unsold after last year’s record Bristol Bay harvest. Veteran Bristol Bay fisherman Robert Cheyne Blough organized a protest at Naknek on July 20. He said that more than 100 fishing boats that were tied together paraded back and forth from of the dock at Naknek for about 12 hours, but did not interfere with deliveries to processors there. What if any impact their protest had on the price of fish is still uncer...

Subsistence salmon gathered by Dillingham, Alaska area residents in advance of the Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery are sharing over 5,000 pounds of their catch with families along the Yukon River and Chignik area that are unable to fish in 2023 because of low run returns. Plans are for Grant Aviation to fly the whole, cleaned and frozen fish in August to Alakanuk, Pitkas Point, Saint Mary’s, Chignik Lagoon and Chignik Bay. Some fish will also be used by the Yukon River Drainage Fishermen’s Association Educational Exchange program where several youth will travel to communities on the Yukon and share their experiences with salmon. The salmon donation project is a collaborative effort of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association’s (ALFA) Seafood Distribution Network, plus No...

President Joe Biden celebrated his administration’s defense of the Bristol Bay watershed and other environmental achievements during a mid-May gathering at the White House’s Rose Garden with Alaska guests including tribal leaders and conservationists. “Bristol Bay is an extraordinary place, unlike anywhere in the world,” Biden said. “Six rivers meet there, traveling through 40,000 miles of tundra, wetlands and lakes, collecting freshwater and salmon along the way … making this the largest sockeye salmon fishery on all the earth.” The president spoke also of a number of other conservation achievements in ceremonies in the Rose Garden on May 11, while concentrating on the importance of the Southwest Alaska watershed where millions of sockeye salmon are harvested every summer by commercia...

Market demand for sockeye salmon is strong, but rising costs for harvesters and processors are expected to influence the ex-vessel price during the 2023 Bristol Bay season, according to Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) Executive Director Andy Wink. Wink said while there’s strong demand overall, the cost of everything -- from financing and carrying costs to labor, insurance and shipping -- keeps rising. Wink made the comments during an April 11 “Lunch and Learn” program presentation offered on the Bristol Bay campus of the University of Alaska in Dillingham, hosted by Marine Advisory Program Agent Tav Ammu. Wink said he wasn’t about to predict the prices to be paid to fishermen this summer in Bristol Bay, with that task being best left for processors to dec...

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is scheduled to take up statewide finfish issues, including an amended plan for managing Chinook salmon in the Nushagak-Mulchatna rivers of Southwest Alaska, when the board meets in Anchorage from March 10-14. Statewide declines in salmon stocks in several area, including the Nushagak Chinook stocks of concern, have been an increasing topic of discussion among fisheries managers, who are researching multiple related issues ranging from warming ocean waters to the nutritional values of changes in the predator-prey relationships of fish and sea mammals. Proposal 11 on the agenda for the board of fisheries meeting identifies several specific management objectives, including consistent sport fishing opportunity and a directed commercial king salmon fishery pro...

Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT) are giving advance notice to Bristol Bay commercial salmon drift gillnet permit holders that their vessels will be measured during the 2023 season to be sure that they adhere to the 32-foot overall length rule. AWT noted in a Feb. 14 letter to the permit holders that some adaptations in equipment have occurred in the past few years to promote produce quality and overall safety within the fleet, but that other modifications had been made for operational performance. The regulation limits gillnet vessels to 32 feet in overall length with few exceptions, they said. One exception is an anchor roller may extend no more than eight inches beyond the 32-foot overall length and may not be more than eight inches in width or height. The regulation defines “overall ...

A final determination on plans for a proposed mine adjacent to the Bristol Bay watershed in Southwest Alaska released Jan. 31 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) favors protections for the huge run of wild sockeye salmon and a multi-million-dollar fisheries economy. The EPA said its determination would protect waters important to sustaining the area’s salmon resources from disposal of dredged or fill materials associated with developing the copper, gold and molybdenum Pebble deposit that a Canadian mining firm wants to develop. The battle between development to extract these minerals from the deposit abutting the Bristol Bay watershed has been ongoing for two decades. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the Bristol Bay watershed is a vital economic driver providing jobs, sus...