chinook – Fishermens News

8Mar

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Bristol Bay Chinook Issues On Tape for Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting

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...

Thiamine Deficiency Eyed as Link to Poor Returns of Western Alaska Chinooks

15Feb

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Thiamine Deficiency Eyed as Link to Poor Returns of Western Alaska Chinooks

A report from the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) says thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency may play an important role in poor returns of western Alaska Chinook salmon. The report in the January 2023 edition of the NPAFC newsletter notes that thiamine deficiency causes abnormal neuromuscular signs and mortality in fish consuming diets lacking thiamine or containing thiaminase, an enzyme that destroys thiamine. The thiaminase enzyme has been found in high levels in certain small pelagic forage fishes that are common prey for juvenile and maturing Chinook. Diets high in thiaminase have been shown to be associated with depressed thiamine concentrations in the predator species, says the article’s author, research biologist Wesley Strasburger of the Alaska Fisheries Science Ce...

NOAA Examines Poor Chinook, Chum Salmon Runs in Alaska

14Dec

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NOAA Examines Poor Chinook, Chum Salmon Runs in Alaska

An updated research report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is providing new insight into historically poor chinook and chum salmon runs in Alaska. A report published in early December in SeafoodSource says the latest research from NOAA indicates poor diet, changes in metabolism and increases in parasitic infection are contributing to poor runs of chinook salmon in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Those factors plus warming water temperatures are proving disastrous to salmon and people dependent on them. Scientists have observed that in warm water conditions fish typically grow faster and need more food to survive the winter. The fish are also maturing at an earlier age, resulting in them producing fewer eggs, according to the report. NOAA has conducted s...

16Nov

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2022 Alaska Salmon Harvest Valued at $720M

A preliminary commercial harvest summary recently issued by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game puts the value of 160.7 million salmon caught in 2022 at $720.4 million, compared to the 2021 harvest of 233.8 million salmon harvested. The 31% decrease in the total harvest is explained by the relatively low pink salmon run size in 2022, a consistent trend for even-numbered years over the last decade, ADF&G biologists said in their mid-November report. The 2022 total harvest sockeyes accounted for 66% of the total value of $473.8 million and 47% of the harvest of 74.8 million fish. Chum salmon, numbering 14.9 million, contributed 15% of the overall value at $110.6 million. Coho salmon made up about 2% of the value $15 million and 1% of the harvest at 1.6 million fish, while the...

24Aug

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Alaska’s Commercial Salmon Harvest Tops 148M Fish

Alaska’s commercial salmon harvests continue to rise for all five species, with all but the coho fishery having peaked. As of Tuesday, Aug. 23, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game documented the preliminary harvest on its online Blue Sheet at nearly 149 million fish, including nearly 74 million sockeyes, 62.5 million pinks, over 11 million chum, 815,000 cohos and 255,000 Chinook salmon. In a single day, the preliminary numbers indicated the catch of more than another 100,000 sockeye, more than two million humpies, nearly 300,000 chums, 58,000 silvers and 6,000 kings. For statistical week 34, following a string of three unseasonably slow harvest weeks, the state’s salmon harvests rose up nearly 18% year-to-date from 2021, according to research analyst Sam Friedman, who compi...

1Jun

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NMFS Modifies Cape Falcon Area Commercial Troll Salmon Limits

The National Marine Fisheries Service has modified the Chinook salmon landing and possession limit for the commercial salmon troll fishery for the entire area north of the Cape Falcon area to 40 Chinook per vessel per week through June 8. Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the rationale behind the decision is that total Chinook landings in the area from the U.S.-Canada border to Cape Falcon, Oregon are estimated at 13,500 out of the spring quota of 18,000 fish, leaving a remainder of just 4,500 Chinooks on the quota. Landings last week were estimated at 5,250 Chinooks. Eric Schindler of ODFW’s marine resources management section noted that the majority of salmon moving north have not been doing well in recent years, but whether this is due to predation...

20Apr

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State Biologists Brace for Alaska’s Copper River Salmon Opener

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists for the Copper River District, with a commercial 2022 forecast of 716,000 sockeyes and 211,000 coho salmon, say that they’ll issue their first announcement from the department’s Cordova office between April 30 and May 7. The fishery is expected to open in mid-May. The total Copper River Chinook salmon run forecast of 40,000 fish is below the 10-year (2012-2021) average of 46,000 fish and the commercial harvest is also expected to be below average. The 2022 sockeye salmon harvest forecast is 38% below the same 10-year average of 1.15 million fish. Biologists said that based on the recent poor Chinook and sockeye salmon production, a conservative management approach would be implemented at the start of the season. The conserva...