Gillnetters are earning a little more for their salmon this season, but harvested fewer fish than expected during the season’s first opener.
“On Sunday, there was a marginal amount of fish, but on Monday it was dismally slow,” said gillnet skipper Matt Davis.
Mark Sogge, the Haines-based commercial fisheries biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said the fleet’s catch of hatchery chum is estimated at around 18,000 fish, far off projections of 100,000 by Douglas Island Pink and Chum (DIPAC) hatchery.
“We’re way down from DIPAC’s expectations,” Sogge said, but noted it’s too early in the season to draw conclusions about the season’s return. “Next week will be a much better indicator if there’s a trend.”
About 90 boats participated in the fishery. About 1,000 sockeye were caught, Sogge said.
At Chilkoot weir, about 1,500 sockeye salmon had passed the weir early this week and Chilkat fish wheels had seen about 40 fish. “That number’s low and the same with the Chilkoot weir. Those numbers are lower than average by quite a bit,” said biologist Sogge.
In the first three days of this week, the number of reds passing Chilkoot weir dropped from 176 to 123 to 64.
During the two-day opening, per pound prices paid to fishermen included 60 cents for chum and $1.25 for sockeye. That’s up from 52 cents and $1.19, respectively, from the end of last season.
“Sometimes (prices) go up a nickel during the season, sometimes a dime… we hope,” said fisherman Cynde Adams. “The price is okay… For me, $1.25 would be good. The price of chums should be higher, but at least it’s an improvement over last year.”
Adams repeated an issue that has puzzled the fleet for years. As salmon has become more popular dinner fare in the United States, and with recent problems at foreign fish farms and smaller returns of salmon elsewhere, why doesn’t the value of wild fish increase more significantly?
“They’re beautiful and such an amazing resource,” Adams said.
Some fishermen this week used smaller-sized nets to try to capitalize on smaller salmon that returned last season. Skipper Mike Stuart used his 5.25-inch sockeye net at Maab Island in southern Lynn Canal, where most of the harvest is hatchery chum salmon.
Stuart said that strategy didn’t show a payoff, as boats using six-inch web, standard for chums, seems to do as well as he did.
The season’s first opener is typically a shakedown for boats, and last weekend was not an exception. Adams, who skippers the Ladyhawke, said a wedding kept her from fishing all but a few hours Tuesday morning. “I just wanted to run the gear and make sure everything works.”
The transmission went out in Stuart’s boat Keta on Monday night. Another fisherman had a hose he used to fix it on the fishing grounds. “I always said, especially on the first opening, you break what you’re going to break. If it’s going to break, it’s going to break out there. Fortunately, everybody takes care of one another out there.”