salmon – Fishermens News

First Salmon Since 1912 Spotted in Oregon’s Klamath Basin Following Dam Removal

23Oct

By Mark Edward NeroNo Comments

First Salmon Since 1912 Spotted in Oregon’s Klamath Basin Following Dam Removal

On Oct.16, a fall-run Chinook salmon was identified in a tributary to the Klamath River, becoming the first of the fish to return to the Klamath Basin in Oregon since 1912 when the first of four hydroelectric dams was constructed, blocking migration. The salmon – part of a species which travel up rivers from the sea to breed – was identified by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologists. The Chinook and others likely traveled about 230 miles from the Pacific Ocean to reach the tributary, months after the Klamath River dams were removed to ensure fish passage from California to Oregon. “This is an exciting and historic development in the Klamath Basin that demonstrates the resiliency of salmon and steelhead,” ODFW Director Debbie Colbert said. “It also inspires us to c...

Land Management Bureau Invests $3.25M in Alaska Salmon Habitat Restoration

18Sep

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Land Management Bureau Invests $3.25M in Alaska Salmon Habitat Restoration

A federal grant of $3.25 million announced on Sept. 16 is expected to be used improve the ecosystem health and Pacific salmon resiliency in the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Norton Sound regions of Alaska, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Project work under the new agreement was estimated to begin in early September 2024 and continue through the end of summer 2029, the BLM said. The funds implement, through a partner award, part of the $36 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding dedicated to the Interior Department’s ‘Gravel to Gravel’ initiative. The project work, implemented in partnership with the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District under the Good Neighbor Authority, includes efforts to restore areas impacted by historic land uses. The Good Neighbor...

Alaska’s Coho Salmon Harvest Could Be a Record Low: Industry Observer

4Sep

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Alaska’s Coho Salmon Harvest Could Be a Record Low: Industry Observer

An international seafood market observer is forecasting that Alaska could face a record low this year in coho salmon landings, compared to strong coho salmon landings in Russia. The observer, Robert Reierson, president and CEO of Tradex Foods, a supplier of premium quality frozen seafood, said this is despite the fact that Russian-origin salmon is banned in the U.S. and the European Union is considering expanding its sanctions to include a wider range of Russian seafood imports. Alaska and Russia are the largest producers of wild Pacific coho salmon, contributing to last year’s global production of about 21,200 metric tons (nearly 47 million pounds) from about 7.45 million fish. Coho landings in Alaska first register in July and are one of the last two species to peak during t...

Alaska Commercial Salmon Harvest Reaches Nearly 92 Million Fish

28Aug

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Alaska Commercial Salmon Harvest Reaches Nearly 92 Million Fish

Fishermen from the Alaska Peninsula to Southeast Alaska delivered more wild salmon to commercial fishing tenders during the past week, bringing the preliminary statewide commercial salmon catch to nearly 92 million fish. That included some 41 million sockeye, 35 million pink, 14.8 million chum, 745,000 coho and 217,000 Chinook salmon. Earlier this year, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had forecast a potential harvest of 135.7 million fish, including 39.5 million sockeye, 69 million pink, 24.3 million chum and 2.6 million coho salmon. In the westward region, deliveries to Kodiak of 8.6 million fish included nearly 7 million pink, 1.2 million sockeye, 482,000 chum, 42,000 coho and 1,000 kings, while from the Alaska Peninsula the catch reached a new total of 4.8 million fi...

Bristol Bay 2025 Advisory Forecast Projects a 49.6M Salmon Run

28Aug

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Bristol Bay 2025 Advisory Forecast Projects a 49.6M Salmon Run

A preliminary preseason forecast for the 2025 Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery projects a run of 49.6 million fish returning to the bay, with a projected harvest of 32.4 million reds, based on data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The forecast from fisheries biologists with the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, released on Aug. 15, came prior to finalized in-season data for the 2024 run and the formal run reconstruction process. Study authors said it should be considered strictly advisory rather than a formal forecast, given its lower accuracy and aggregated summary across stocks. The very early forecast was prompted by the Bristol Bay fisheries community expressing interest in a preliminary p...

Appeals Court Decision Allows SEAK Trollers to Keep Harvesting

21Aug

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Appeals Court Decision Allows SEAK Trollers to Keep Harvesting

Southeast Alaska commercial fishermen facing a potential shutdown of a lucrative salmon fishery are currently free to fish while NOAA Fisheries revises a biological opinion dotted with procedure errors, according to an Aug. 16 ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court gives the fisheries service until Dec. 1 to produce a new biological opinion, a decision that brought relief to harvesters, but dismay to the Wild Fish Conservancy in Seattle. However, Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game Doug Vincent-Lang said that once the new biological opinion is released it's “fresh for litigation” again. Amy Daugherty, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association in Juneau, said her organization of some 400 fishermen was very relieved “that the district cour...

Statewide Commercial Harvest of Alaska Salmon Reaches 75.5M Fish

14Aug

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Statewide Commercial Harvest of Alaska Salmon Reaches 75.5M Fish

An updated preliminary estimate of Alaska’s 2024 statewide commercial salmon harvest rose from 59.7 million to 75.5 million fish as of Aug. 12, but still lags behind the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecast of 135.7 million fish by season’s end. ADF&G’s forecast for commercial harvesters had included 69 million pink salmon, 39.5 million sockeye salmon, 24.3 million chum salmon, and 2.6 million coho salmon. To date, the count includes 215,000 Chinook, upward of 12 million chum, 455,000 coho, 22.3 million pink and 40.4 million sockeyes. Through the midpoint of the Alaska commercial salmon season a week ago, Simon Marks of McKinley Research Group, who produces in-season Alaska commercial salmon updates for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said that about 42% of the...

Commercial Salmon Harvest in Alaska Climbs to 59M Fish

31Jul

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Commercial Salmon Harvest in Alaska Climbs to 59M Fish

Alaska’s total statewide commercial salmon harvest stood at 59 million fish as the fishery began winding down at the end of July, but the jury was still out on how the chum and coho harvests in August would boost the overall 2024 catch. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists in April forecast a 2024 commercial harvest of 135.7 million salmon, including 69.0 million pink salmon, 39.5 million sockeye salmon, 24.3 million chum salmon and 2.6 million coho salmon. As of July 23, the latest estimated ADF&G harvest calculation showed the harvest at 36% of the projected harvest and industry insiders said they were waiting to see what the final harvest of pink and chum salmon in Prince William Sound would be. As of July 29, the estimated catch of 59 million salmon statewide ...

Alaska’s Overall Commercial Salmon Harvests Climb to Nearly 50M Fish

24Jul

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Alaska’s Overall Commercial Salmon Harvests Climb to Nearly 50M Fish

Alaska Department of Fish and Game's 2024 preliminary commercial salmon harvest total rose to nearly 50 million fish over the past week, as the harvest of all five species of Pacific salmon were counted. As of Monday, July 22, the ADF&G Blue Sheet showed a harvest of 49.7 million salmon overall, including 36.8 million sockeye, 5 million pink, 7.6 million chum 167,000 Chinook and 72,000 coho. The bulk of the harvest -- nearly 40 million fish -- is in the Central Region, and includes nearly 30 million Bristol Bay salmon, 8.6 million salmon in Prince William Sound and 1.2 million salmon in Cook Inlet. Bristol Bay fishermen in the Nushagak District have delivered to processors nearly 12 million sockeyes, plus 197,000 chum, 2,000 Chinook and 1,000 pink salmon. In the Naknek-Kvi...

24Jul

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MSC Rejects Effort to Remove Southeast Alaska Salmon from Accredited List

The Marine Stewardship Council has rejected efforts of the Vancouver, Canada environmental entity Ocean Wise to remove sustainability credentials for Southeast Alaska salmon. In a July 18 statement, MSC called into question recommendations of the nonprofit environmental group to have MSC reverse its recommendation of Southeast Alaska salmon as a sustainable fishery. MSC said that in the case of the ongoing objection to the fourth recertification of Alaska salmon that it’s confident in the rigor and transparency of the third-party assessment process, and that its conclusion supports strengthening and improving fishery performance and uphold the principles for credible sustainability program. The Southeast Alaska salmon fishery’s MSC certificate remains valid, and landings can b...