Record numbers of sockeye salmon have passed through the Chilkoot River weir this season, surprising biologists and delighting local fishermen.
As of Wednesday, Alaska Department of Fish and Game weir workers counted 136,773 fish, “much higher than forecasts,” said area management biologist Nicole Zeiser. “None of us can really believe that the Chilkoot sockeye are so strong. The runs should be pretty much over, but for whatever reason, they’re still coming.”
This year, the escapement goal for Chilkoot Lake was between 38,000 and 68,000 sockeye. Zeiser said the department uses parent year escapements from 2013, 2014 and 2015 to calculate returns. The last record return year was in 2014, when 106,000 sockeye returned to spawn.
Fly fishing guide Zach Tarleton said he’s had the best sockeye season ever. “They’re still coming in, in the 500-plus numbers, even now,” Tarleton said. “I’ve caught some really sizable fish. The stock seems healthy this year.”
Zeiser said that the department’s management plan to protect dwindling king salmon runs could be a contributing factor to the abundance of sockeye.
For the first five weeks of the season, fisherman were restricted in time and area, “which definitely has an impact on more fish escaping,” Zeiser said.
“Also, the purse seine fishery south of us has been closed for the past two years. When it’s open, they harvest a lot of sockeye,” she added.
Subsistence fisherman Pete Degen said he did well on both sides of the Chilkat peninsula this year. “It was not difficult to fill our own needs as well as those of a household that I proxy fished for,” he said.
The Chilkat River weir has met its escapement goal for the year, and only half of the run has returned, Zeiser said. The current count is 101,000 fish. Zeiser said the department will pull the Chilkat weir Oct. 15. The abundance of the remaining run “depends on how much is caught in the commercial fishery, and if the run is small,” Zeiser said.
Last week, the first coho was spotted in the Chilkat weir, indicating Fish and Game’s transition into its fall management. In the coming weeks, fisherman will be limited in area and time to allow biologists to monitor the coho and chum and confirm that escapements are healthy.
Zeiser said she’s unconcerned about over escapement, unless it happens year after year.