Lynn Canal gillnetters hauled in the best catches of the season so far during the past week.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game commercial fisheries biologist Nicole Zeiser said the fleet caught 63,000 sockeye last week. By Tuesday of this week, gillnetters caught another 40,000 red salmon, well above the 19,000 fish 10-year average for the week.
“We’ll probably get up to 50,000 before the week’s over. That tells you how good it is. They were nailing them yesterday,” Zeiser said. “It was a really good sockeye harvest yesterday and the best these guys have seen in a very long time. The peak (of the run) is happening as far as Chilkoot fish go.”
Zeiser said she extended fishing times across the district this week and Lutak Inlet will be open through Friday, Aug. 5.
Total escapement at the Chilkoot Lake weir is 40,300 as of Tuesday, above the 38,000 lower end of the escapement goal range.
“We got the goal in the bag,” Zeiser said.
Zeiser also said she’s encouraged by Chilkat River escapement so far this summer.
“The Chilkat Lake sockeye salmon return appears to be much healthier this year than what we’ve seen the last two years and is currently tracking to meet the escapement goal,” she said. “We’re looking good there, too.”
Hatchery chum harvests are starting to wind down after strong returns, Zeiser said.
Fish and Game staff are starting the second phase of the Chilkat king salmon mark-and-recapture project, and early estimates show that king returns, as forecasted, won’t meet its escapement goal range of 1,750 fish.
“That’s just what it’s looking like based on the lower river tagging project and what they tagged in the fish wheels,” she said. “Based on that it’s looking like we won’t meet the goal.”
Zeiser has reduced fishing time, area and gear size to reduce king salmon harvest in response to the Alaska Board of Fish designating Chilkat kings as a stock of concern in 2018 and again this year. Those meetings occur on a three-year cycle.
Lynn Canal saw peak effort in early July with 160 boats fishing in area waters.
The total harvest for all species of salmon as of Tuesday was 1.1 million fish compared to a 10-year average of 1.2 million.
“We will be fishing through Friday so this harvest number will go up quite a bit. It Is also important to note that we have been under (Board of Fish) restrictions for five years,” Zeiser said. “This obviously limits harvest opportunities for (king), chum, and sockeye. It is also a poor pink salmon year, which usually adds substantial numbers to the overall harvest.”