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Fishery Update 2008 - Written by: John Burke, General Manager

Fishery Update, 5 September 2008.

The fall coho graphics have been updated, but otherwise little has changed since the last update in August.

Summer chum: The summer chum run is complete but for an odd fish here or there.

Fall Chum: The Nakat fish have shown up in 101, primarily 101 drift fisheries, where decent numbers have been harvested – 90 to 100 thousand pounds in week 35 and week 36. We have not seen much harvest in the Nakat THA, but not certain if that is lack of harvest or a lag in reporting from ADF&G. At any rate, we would not expect much in the THA before now. There were Neets Bay fall chum harvested in D106 this week, otolith examination estimates half the chum caught were from Neets Bay. The overall harvest this week in 106 was only between 60 and 70,000 pounds. The Neets fall chums, for whatever reason, seem to avoid traditional corridor fishery harvest more than their summer cousins.

Seiners harvested some fall fish during their most recent openings in 102 and 107. These fish were also from Neets Bay. It is possible that the next seine opening will find some Neets Bay chum in each of these districts.

There has not been enough harvest to date to describe the different year-class strength of falls. We have seen 4’s and 5’s in about equal numbers, though the percentage of 4’s should increase over time. There will be no 3’s at Nakat this fall as there were no fall chums released at Nakat two years ago.

Fall Coho: The return of fall coho to each of SSRAA’s release sites is at least as good as it has been for the past two years, and at most sites it is slightly better for that period at this date. The fish are also large. The average weight of a fall coho harvested at Neets Bay two days ago was 11.3 pounds round weight. This is large for so early in the run.

Fall coho graphics have been updated. If you note each of the graphs seem to taper off in week 35, this is not from lack of harvest, it is because only a few of the collected tags have been processed. The numbers should significantly increase as tags are processed.

The troll harvest is much greater than any other gear group and most of that harvest is still in District 113, off Sitka. A good number of SSRAA fish were harvested by seine in the last openings in D101, 102, 103 and particularly in 104 and 107.

Drift harvest has picked up dramatically in the past several weeks particularly in D101 and D106. The coho harvest in 106 this week was 11,000 fish, and though tags have not been read, from historic information we would anticipate that a lot of those fish are from Neets and Whitman Lake. District 8 had an even better per boat harvest with about 470 coho per boat this week. At least some of those were Neets, Whitman or Anita Bay fish.

We are harvesting 4 or 5 thousand pounds every two days at Neets Bay now, which is well ahead of where we were at this date in 2007. Though the run was strong in 2007, it was late. This run appears to be more “usual”, putting decent numbers of SSRAA coho in local inside waters in early September.

Coho from all of these sites have been quite large.

Fishery Update, 11 August 2008.

The graphics have not been updated from the last update on 4 August. Our otolith sampling for chums is as much in real time as we can make it…otoliths sampled this morning will be processed this afternoon or tomorrow.

Summer chum: Seiners are still harvesting summer chum from Kendrick/102, actually a few more Kendrick fish caught in week 32 (last week) than in week 31, but the run should be nearly over at this point. Likewise seiners have harvested Neets and Anita fish in D107. The Neets Bay run should have little left in it, though it is still possible there are some Anita fish in the pipeline…but it has to also be getting late for Anita fish.

There are still some fish being harvested in the Kendrick THA, but that dropped off dramatically in week 32. Likely these fish, what is left of the return, are being caught in D102 before they enter the THA. The return to Kendrick is almost exactly what was forecast. This was also a normal return in that it was primarily comprised of 4-year-old fish with a usual distribution of 3’s and 5’s.

Fish are still entering the Anita Bay THA, but we have not seen the seine numbers for week 32. The seine rotational harvest increased dramatically in week 31 while gill net dropped off in week 32, which suggests seiners are more active in the THA.

There have been some Nakat and Neets Bay fall chum harvested, but we don’t generally anticipate large numbers of these fish until near the end of August.

Drift net harvest continues in D101/Nakat. There was still a decent harvest of SSRAA summer chum in D101 during week 32, primarily Nakat with some Kendrick. Harvest in the Nakat THA dropped dramatically last week. This return was largely comprised of 3-year-old fish.

District 106 has not seen its usual chum harvest in 2008. There are still summer chum being caught, but not large numbers – primarily Neets and Anita fish.

Our recent samples from District 8 are confusing. Because there are still Anita Bay fish being caught in 106 and 107, we will assume there are also Anita fish being caught in District 8. It will take us a little time to sort out the most recent samples.

Harvest in the Anita Bay terminal area last week was about half of the harvest from the previous week. It is hard to say if this is because the run is diminishing or more related to seine activity in the THA.

Fall coho from all of SSRAA’s projects are starting to appear in northern troll harvest and as far south as D109. The coded wire tag database has not seen a significant update since our last SSRAA update. Most of the expansions do not go beyond week 30, two weeks ago. We will update this section when the information is available.

About a week ago we wondered about the sockeye we had released from Neck Lake and Burnett Inlet. Returns had been so poor the past several years that we did not expect to see much. So, we took a look…and were surprised to see about 1025 Neck Lake sockeye in the harvest with about 390 fish from Burnett. These are not big numbers, but neither has the sockeye harvest in D106/108 been large. It looks like the numbers increased through week 31 and week 32 numbers are not yet available. We have also seen some sockeye in the raceway at Neck Lake.

The table below summarizes the summer chum return to date. We will have a few more fish in each of these groups before the last fish are harvested. It is interesting to note that survival of the 2004 year class (4’s) was only normal for the Kendrick release. Nakat, Neets and to some extent Anita Bay returns all seem to be driven by the 2005 year class (3’s). The overall survival seems to have been an outside vs. inside thing. The more outside releases (closer to the open ocean) returned at least as anticipated, while the inside releases (further away from the open ocean) did not do as well. We have experimented with “late – large” releases the past two springs at Kendrick. The first of these fish will return next year.

2008 Harvest of SSRAA Summer Chum, by 10 August 2008:

Release	Age at	Com. Prop.	% at age	THA	Total	% of
Site	Return	Harvest	By Site	Harvest	Harvest	Forecast
Anita Bay	5 & 6	15,394	25%	15,181	30,575	46%
Anita Bay	4	24,746	41%	24,405	49,151	11%
Anita Bay	3	20,966	34%	20,414	41,380	57%
Anita Bay	Total	61,106		60,000	121,106	35%
Kendrick Bay	5 & 6	28,579	12%	19,258	47,837	190%
Kendrick Bay	4	164,403	71%	110,788	275,191	92%
Kendrick Bay	3	37,029	16%	24,953	61,982	94%
Kendrick Bay	Total	230,011		154,999	385,010	98%
Nakat Inlet	5 & 6	8,822	70%	4,654	13,476	64%
Nakat Inlet	4	43,352	32%	22,869	66,221	65%
Nakat Inlet	3	82,417	61%	43,477	125,894	315%
Nakat Inlet	Total	134,591		71,000	205,591	125%
Neets Bay	5 & 6	17,607	21%	-	17,607
Neets Bay	4	26,325	31%	-	26,325
Neets Bay	3	39,664	47%	-	39,664
Neets Bay	Total	83,596		-	83,596

Fishery Update, 4 August 2008.

The graphics below are generally complete through week 30 with some values added through week 32; no doubt those numbers will change. Our otolith sampling for chums is as much in real time as we can make it…otoliths sampled this morning will be processed this afternoon or tomorrow.

Summer chum: Seiners (data in parenthesis is from 3 August opening) are still harvesting summer chum from Kendrick/102 (14 boats with 7,600 chum). This run should be nearing the end, but there will be some clean up for a week or so. Seine 101 is harvesting a handful of chums at this point (16 boats with 1,600 chum), primarily Neets Bay fish as well as an unmarked component – wild and Metlakatla. Chum harvest in current openings in D107 (23 boats for 11,000 chum) are primarily comprised of Neets fish (60%) with some Anita Bay (40%). There were also chum harvested in D104 (56 boats with 11,000 chums). A few Neets, Kendrick and Nakat fish have been harvested in 104, but most of the chums harvested recently were wild fish.

There are still some fish being harvested in the Kendrick THA, but from this point forward this will be more a clean-up of late fish. To date the harvest of Kendrick fish has almost exactly matched the forecast. Fish are still entering the Anita Bay THA in decent numbers. At this time we can only account for about 45% of the fish forecast for Anita Bay and anticipate that run will continue another week or ten days.

There have been very few Nakat or Neets Bay fall chum harvested and we don’t anticipate the harvest of those fish until the last week of August.

Drift net harvest continues in D101/Nakat. This return has exceeded forecast by about 25% and the run is still alive. Nakat is exceptional in that the harvest was largely comprised of 3-year-old fish. Since 3’s tend to make up the later portion of the run it is possible relatively fresh fish will be entering D101/Nakat for at least another week.

District 106 has not seen the usual chum harvest in 2008. In part the boats in 106 were focused on summer coho returning to Neck Lake, but probably most important is that it appears the Neets Bay chums entered inside waters almost entirely from the south entrance…not around Pt. Baker and down Clarence Straits as is usually the case. D106 is usually our most important index for the return to Neets, but this year that has not been the case. Currently few boats are fishing 106 (25 boats with 4,000 chums) and they have not harvested many chums. There were still summer coho being harvested during the most recent opening, but that return appears to be almost over.

There was more activity in District 8 (50 boats with 19,000 chums). We have not looked at many of these otoliths but it is very likely these are predominantly Anita Bay fish, with a few Neets Bay fish in the mix. The Anita Bay THA has been productive with 24 boats in the last gill net rotation harvesting 500 fish per boat. Fresh fish should be entering Anita Bay for another week or possibly more.

Fall coho from all of SSRAA’s projects are starting to appear in northern troll harvest and as far south as D109. Each of the release sites is producing at this point with approximately the same number of SSRAA fish harvested as was the case last summer. We hope the fish decide to come in a little earlier than they did last year, but otherwise to date the run looks very much the same as it did in 2007.

We did notice a pop in D109 troll in week 30. There were some Neets fish in that harvest as well as a good number of fish from the POW Hatchery. There was also a relatively large seine harvest of SSRAA coho (666 fish) in week 31 likely in the D103/104 opening. Tags have not been processed for weeks 31 or 32.

The graphics have been updated with some additions for week 31 and 32, this week, while week 30 numbers are close to complete, weeks 31 and 32 are not. The harvest numbers in those weeks will grow as more tags and otoliths are read and complete harvest data is available. Do not read too much into any differences you note in week 31 or 32 data…at this point anyway.

Fishery Update, 26 July 2008.

It has been several weeks since we have updated our common property assessment. Cost recovery has our primary attention during this time of the year, but we will do our best to get back into a cycle of weekly updates. The graphics below cover part of stat week 30. There are still fish coming to the processors, we have technicians taking otoliths from those fish and reading them as I type.

Good numbers of SSRAA summer chums are still being harvested in D102/Kendrick and Tree Point/Nakat. It is of some interest that the Kendrick return is more normal related to age class structure with 4’s significantly predominating, while for Nakat the return has held more 3’s than 4’s. This is not usual, but not that unusual either. It does suggest the Nakat harvest may continue a little longer than usual as the 3’s tend to return later than 4’s and 5’s.

The most recent seine opening, 24 July, saw chums landed from D104 and D107. Last year Neets fish predominated in each of these districts at this date. We collected some samples from 104 this morning, about 25 to 30% of them are SSRAA chums. Last year early in the return in 104 most of the fish were of SSRAA origin. Of those we examined this morning, most were Neets 3’s, which makes sense since at Neets Bay, like Nakat, 3’s are predominating the return so far this summer.

There was also a fair harvest of chums in D107. Last year we anticipated Anita fish in 107 and were surprised when Neets chums were more common. Unfortunately the only tender we saw from 107 was a mixed tender, with fish from several districts. These fish cannot be used in our program since marks found in fish from mixed tenders cannot be expanded to the catch from individual districts. So, at this point we don’t know whether these are Neets or Anita Bay fish…or a mix of the two.

The Nakat and Kendrick THA’s have been producing and they represented some of the only water open to harvest most of the week. The Anita THA is also open to a rotational net fishery and trolling, and it appears some fish were also taken there this week. Chum abundance in the Anita Bay THA should increase through early to mid August perhaps later.

We get calls from fishermen looking for information that might help them select the most likely place to harvest fish in coming openings. Unfortunately we cannot provide as good an answer as we would like since most of the normal corridor fisheries are not being fished, or are only being fished very sparsely. It is not possible to make an informed guess, at least any kind of a guess that does not involve Ouija board thinking, about what is on the way when there is little or no information from the corridors.

From just looking at the terminal areas it looks like both the Nakat and Kendrick returns will meet or exceed forecast. Because of the additional 3’s at Nakat, that return might go a little longer than “usual” while the Kendrick return should be “usual” in timing – though in general the run looks a little late. Even these simple observations are complicated since it is apparent that most of the chum came in the south entrances this year. In most years maybe half the fish returning to Neets and Anita return from the north through 106 and 108. This might help to explain why it Appears the Neets fish are a little late this summer and that the Anita Bay fish might be even a little later than that…if they swam beyond POW outside and then circled back through Dixon Entrance.

Summer chinook fishing is pretty much over. There are still a good number of tags that have not been read, or after having been read, have not been expanded. We updated the graphics below as best we can at this date and will let this data rest for several weeks while we chase the chums.

Summer coho tag data accumulation is also little behind and remains complicated by the number of self marketers participating in the D106 fishery. There was less effort this past week in D106 in part because of the restrictions in place to allow McDonald sockeye back to the lake. We also had decent weather through this period, and these fish are notorious for not being interested in moving during periods of high pressure. Whatever the reason, the run seems to be on the back shoulder at this point, though another pulse of summer coho would not be a surprise.

Fall coho from all of SSRAA’s projects are starting to appear in northern troll harvest. It is too early to say much about run strength, but it is always good to see the fish begin to show in harvest. Anecdotal information suggests the fish are about a pound heavier than usual at this date. We started the coho graphics in this report, but the numbers are very sparse at this date.

SSRAA chum stocks…mid season observations: Last summer Neets Bay fish predominated in almost every harvest except those immediately adjacent to the other release sites. At this point in the season, we have not seen this. It appears that Kendrick and Nakat returns will be at least as good as anticipated, and probably a little better. It is interesting to note that each of these stocks has done this differently. At Kendrick the 4’s are far and away the most abundant year class while at Nakat there have been more 3-year-olds harvested at this point than 4’s and there is very little chance at this date that this will change. Those of you who follow forecasting are probably thinking optimistic thoughts about Nakat. I have also been caught that way in the past. At this point we are talking about relative numbers, 3’s compared to 4’s, not absolute numbers…the total number of 3’s. A weak set of 4’s can make an average set of 3’s look enormous. Enough said. Regardless, even at this point, the 3’s at Nakat and Neets are reason for some optimism going forward.

There have been a number of frustrated people looking for Anita fish. Everything we have looked at suggests this run is still on the early front shoulder and could be a little later than usual. We will know whether that is true shortly.

The graphics have been updated with some additions for week 30, this week, while week 30 numbers are not available as yet for most of the stocks/sites. Do not read too much into any differences you note in week 30 data…at this point anyway.

Fishery Update, 13 July 2008.

Chum harvest information has been updated since the last update on the 9^th. Both D102/Kendrick and D101/Nakat saw decent harvests of chum at the end of last week’s openings. There were some fish caught in the Nakat THA, and also likely in Kendrick, from the closure of last weeks fishing (outside THA’s) until those fisheries reopened yesterday. We have updated the chum graphics through last weeks harvest and are relatively confident about those numbers. Chinook and summer coho tag data accumulation is a little behind from ADF&G. There was some chinook harvest at Mt. Point through the summer opening and at least several trollers have landed chinook from Neets Bay since the summer fishery closed. The Neets THA closed to fishing on the 10^th.

We are having a great deal of difficulty resolving the actual harvest of summer coho in D106. There seems to be a very focused group of gill netters fishing the entrances to Whale Pass specifically targeting these fish…perhaps as many as 14 or 15 boats. Many of these are self-marketers. The department does not have the opportunity to examine the fish that are self-marketed for tags. So, the tags that are found in 106 are from fishermen who are not targeting these fish, perhaps fishing sockeye or chums. The tag ratio found in those fish, some from Burnett Inlet and the untagged portion are expanded across the entire catch, including that portion that is likely close to 100% from Neck Lake. In this situation the statistics will be significantly biased toward Burnett and wild fish and against Neck Lake fish. When the season is over we may be able to adjust the numbers to more accurately represent the Neck Lake harvest as we are able to identify the collective group of self-marketers and assign their harvest to Neck Lake, removing it from the greater D106 harvest over which the tags are expanded. I know, complicated…but this has been a serious frustration for SSRAA. Sometimes a District like 106 is not a homogeneous fishery, but instead is 3 or 4 very selective sub fisheries. Collecting tags and assuming effort for each group is equal throughout the district is no longer a valid assumption…and as such, traditional tag numbers from ADF&G may not accurately estimate the harvest.

There will be a test on this paragraph next week!

Spring and Summer Troll: Spring and summer troll are now complete. The data is still primarily only for all SSRAA stocks through stat week 25, which ends 10 days before the end of the spring troll season. Chinook tag data seems to be lagging (from the ADF&G Tag Lab) several weeks. Likewise sport data is now about 2 to 3 weeks behind. We have as yet to see many tags from the summer troll though there are trollers who continued fishing their spring troll hatchery-access drags through the summer opening.

Drift net: Effort is still well below the historic level at Tree Point. Some fishermen may be moving to Tree Point from D106/108 as the fishery restrictions for McDonald Lake sockeye come into play this week.

Information from local processors suggests a handful of boats went back to Nakat this past week after D101 closed. Though the harvest was not spectacular, it was considerably better than it has been in prior weeks. As time passes more fish should be accumulating in the Nakat THA. History suggests this will continue for at least several weeks.

I have not heard anything from D106/108 since it closed last week…and it has just opened. Restrictions for McDonald sockeye will come into play this week so some fishermen may move away from this corridor. The return to Neck Lake still looks strong, but the fish will not move much until we get another low-pressure system. They have never moved very well during good weather.

The Anita Bay THA is currently open to fishing, with a gill net/seine rotation and fish have been harvested from the terminal area but few fish are currently in the THA. Please look at the rotational calendar on the web page for specific concerning the rotational fishery as well as changes in the boundaries of the THA related to the crab fishery.

SE Seine: Fishing on the south end, primarily District 102 and Kendrick, was opened again yesterday. As yet we have not had any reliable information on the harvest.

SSRAA chum stocks…early season observations: Last summer Neets Bay fish predominated in almost every harvest except those immediately adjacent to the other release sites. At this early point in the season, we have not seen this. Though it is still very early our first data suggests the stocks released more toward the open ocean, Nakat and Kendrick, seem to be doing better than those stocks released more inside – away from the open ocean – Neets and Anita Bay. The Kendrick fish look to be normally distributed between year classes, while Neets seems to be short of 4’s. Again, this is far to early to assume this will be the conclusion after the final fish is harvested, but seeing a few more Neets 4’s would not be a bad thing. Likewise we have not seen too many Anita Bay fish, though that is not unusual this early in the season.

Sport Harvest: The number of SSRAA chinook showing in the sport fishery did not change this week since tag recoveries were not expanded through this past week. Local Ketchikan area observations suggest there is still good effort at Mountain Point as well as Clover Pass, though harvest at Clover Pass is pointed in part toward summer coho that appear to be strong this year.

Reports from Whale Pass suggest fishing for summer coho is excellent with a significant harvest, though this harvest is not monitored and we are not able to assign a number.

Fishery Update, 9 July 2008. (Note graphics below have not been updated for this date.)

This update will be relatively brief. Some of the actual numbers have been difficult to resolve this past week, and we will update the graphics this weekend. We have also been suffering from chum chasing at Neets with periods of brief false jubilation and long sittings and waiting.

There are still several chinook clean up fisheries ongoing, though only several with just several participants. There are likely a handful of kings left in D108 near Anita Bay as well as in the Anita Bay THA. Likewise there are several trollers working Neets Bay for the last of the kings returning to that THA, though it will close on the 10^th of July.

Numbers for commercial harvest from the ADF&G tag lab do not “settled” for a week to 10 days after the harvest of a tagged fish – precise data will lag a harvest by at least that time. There has been recent confusion from some mixed harvests, for instance between D106 and D108, where the actual district of harvest is not clear. Those tag recoveries are difficult to assess. THA data is not a high priority for the department and those numbers are often not available for several weeks. And, it can take from three to four weeks for sport fishing information to “settle” in the Department’s database. We will include that data as available. But…we are after it!

Spring and Summer Troll: Spring and summer troll are now complete. The data is only for all SSRAA stocks through stat week 25, which ends 10 days before the end of the spring troll season. We have as yet to see many tags from the summer troll though there are trollers who continued fishing their spring troll hatchery-access drags through the summer opening.

At this point it looks as if trollers caught approximately equal numbers of fish from three releases: Herring Cove, Anita Bay and Neets Bay. It is possible the last effort pushed one site or another above the others, but we will not know that until this data settles.

There was some frustration among trollers who called SSRAA wondering why Mountain Point did not stay open after the summer season closed. That is a good question. Almost every fish caught in the Mountain Point fishery in early July is from Whitman Lake Hatchery. But, what most fishermen don’t understand is that the actual terminal harvest area for Whitman Lake Hatchery is very small, just a tiny postage stamp area around the mouth of the creek coming from the hatchery. It is a shallow area not wide enough for a troller to fish. The larger area known as Mountain Point, which is sometimes designated a special area for sport (special bag limit) and commercial harvest (hatchery access), is not an actual THA…so SSRAA has no word in the management of this area. I am pretty certain the Department would at the least discuss expanding this area for troll…at least hypothetically…after the summer opening, since in essence it is much like a THA even though it is not officially designated as such. But in the end that would be a Board of Fish decision.

Drift net: Effort is well below the historic level at Tree Point. Per boat chum harvest in District 1 increased to over 500 fish. Historically these fish are predominantly of Nakat and Neets origin, but at least in the early season this year Kendrick chums have also contributed. The chum catch per boat does not include the harvest in the Nakat THA. Though catches have not been large as yet in the Nakat THA we would anticipate that to change over the next several weeks. This run is moving up the front shoulder with the peak in several weeks. The have caught some sockeye at Tree Point and more coho than usual, but those are not predominantly enhanced fish. Reliable anecdotal information suggests chum fishing in 101 is getting significantly better as I write. Fishing in Nakat should improve as these fish pass through 101.

A note from the Hugh Smith weir suggests that still only a handful of fish have passed, though there was a little spike this morning and there are more fish apparent in salt water.

As they were a week ago, the 106/108 fisheries are looking for an identity. Effort has moved a little toward 106 and is now split between the districts (50 boats in each last week). There is still some effort directed at chinook near the Anita Bay THA, but chinook numbers are dramatically dropping off. Effort in 106 is more specifically directed at summer coho returning to Whale Pass and Burnett Inlet than was historically the case as well as sockeye and chums. Our staff at Whale Pass reports that 15 or 16 drifters are tight into both entrances of Whale Pass harvesting the summer coho returning to Neck Lake. Some of these fishermen are self-marketers, and we do not get tag information from the fish they harvest. Regardless, tags suggest most of the coho harvested in 106 are either from Burnett Inlet Hatchery or the Neck Lake net pen site. There were 8,000 coho harvested last week, 160 per boat without adding in the self-marketer harvest. At this point, and it is early, it looks as if the summer coho run is stronger than it has been in some years.

The chum harvest in these districts is increasing, primarily in 106. The Neets fish use 106 as an approach corridor from the north, while 108 is more specifically Anita Bay fish. This is early for both Neets and Anita returns, but as the Neets release is more than twice the Anita release, the harvest in 106 should exceed that in 108 during this period.

SE Seine: Fishing on the south end, primarily District 102 and Kendrick, has picked up dramatically over the past several days. We do not have specific harvest information at this time as the fishery is ongoing and our port samplers are chasing tender loads of chum looking for otoliths. We have seen a good number of Kendrick fish throughout the region, and at this point the run looks to be at least what we anticipated. There was also a some seine harvest in District 101 for the short opening there, though not as productive at this time as D102. It is fair to say at this point that we are optimistic about the return to Kendrick, at least related to the forecast.

Reports from Whale Pass suggest fishing for summer coho is excellent with a significant harvest, though this harvest is not monitored and we are not able to assign a number.

One other Important observation, the fish are pretty chunky this year…they did not miss lunch. This is a very good sign since decent survival has always been associated with larger fish at Neets. While this may not impact the 4’s and 5’s much, we will watch this years 3’s closely.

Fishery Update, 30 June 2008. (Note graphics below)

There are several fisheries still harvesting SSRAA-produced chinook, but at this point it is more a clean up fishery for a handful of boats. There are some trollers fishing Herring Cover fish at Mountain Point and net rotations in the Anita Bay THA.

Numbers on commercial harvest from the ADF&G tag lab do not “settled” for a week to 10 days after the harvest of a tagged fish – precise data will lag a harvest by at least that time. Likewise, THA data is not a high priority for the department and those numbers are often not available for several weeks. We will sometimes include a minimal harvest estimate prior to the final estimate from ADF&G. It can take from three to four weeks for sport fishing information to “settle” in the Department’s database. We will include that data as available. The graphics following this report should be considered minimal numbers until at least several weeks have passed beyond a harvest date.

Spring Troll: The latest Department summary estimates that 550 trollers took part in the spring access fisheries. The harvest rate suggested about 37,350 chinook would be caught in the fishery with about 51% of those fish being of Alaska Hatchery origin. That is the highest hatchery contribution (% of catch) since 2000.

At this point most trollers are iced down and headed to the outside to harvest chinook in the 1 July summer opener. This opening is anticipated to last 5 days before the 61,000-target harvest is attained. It is possible some trollers will remain behind in places like Mountain Point to continue the clean up fishery of hatchery kings. The current price of diesel and relatively low quota make this choice viable for some.

There has been some frustration related to the inability of the troll fleet to find the enhanced fish before they reach the terminal areas. This has long been a frustration among those trying to provide chinook to trollers. With current significant net gear clean up fisheries in the THA’s, appreciable value of chinook is extending to the those groups. To some extent this further exacerbates the allocation imbalance between the fleets, with trollers falling below their agreed allocation range in the value of enhanced salmon. While at the same time it lifts the overall value of seine and drift fisheries.

Looking at the various SSRAA release sites (see graphics below), it appears that Neets Bay provides more fish to the winter troll fishery while Herring Cove provides a few more fish in the spring. None of the release sites provides significantly better troll harvest than the others. Chinook are sure to be a point in the allocation discussions for next fall and winter.

Drift net: Less than half the historic effort is fishing Tree Point. The chum numbers are increasing as I type and good numbers of chinook and coho are also still in the harvest while the sockeye abundance is less than usual for this date. A note from the Hugh Smith weir suggests very few fish have passed, though it is still also very early in that return.

The 106/108 fisheries are looking for an identity. There is still some effort directed at chinook near the Anita Bay THA. Some effort in 106 is specifically directed at summer coho returning to Whale Pass and Burnett Inlet. The summer coho run is stronger than usual for this date. The summer coho started early in 2007, but the run also ended earlier than usual. At this point, it is impossible to say whether the run is strong, or simply early. Some gill netters in 106/108 are targeting Stikine sockeye. And finally, there are some chum salmon available in 106. The last of the chinook should be harvested in the next week or 10 days, and likely the fleet will turn more to chum as the fish coming back to Neets and Anita Bay fill the corridors in 106/108. Good numbers of chum are not anticipated for a week or more.

The Anita Bay THA is currently open to fishing, with a gill net/seine rotation and fish have been harvested from the terminal area. Please look at the rotational calendar on the web page for specific concerning the rotational fishery as well as changes in the boundaries of the THA related to the crab fishery.

Summer Coho: The harvest of summer coho, primarily from the Neck Lake release, increased again this past week. There were only 25 boats in D106, but the average catch per boat was 140 coho. This is a good number considering some of the gear in 106 is directed at other species. We would anticipate the number of boats in 106 has increased during the current opening. Unfortunately the value of these fish is confused by the small number of feeder fall coho mixed with the harvest. Self-marketers concentrate on these fish and are rewarded by good prices in the market place. The fish do not bring as good a price with processors even when they are dressed as they are mixed to some extent with feeder fall coho. Summer coho remain more numerous at this date than we recall from past years, we still do not know if this is due to earlier than usual run timing or a larger than usual run. We are doing our first cost recovery from the raceway at Neck Creek as I type. This is perhaps 5 or 6 days early to see the fish in the raceway in good numbers.

SE Seine: The first SE major seine opening occurred on 22 June. There were some chum in the area, but it is still a week to 10 days before we would anticipate good numbers of fish in Kendrick.

There is a seine/gill net rotational fishery in Anita Bay and some kings should be available through the next week to 10 days.

Sport Harvest: The number of SSRAA chinook showing in the sport fishery increased dramatically through the last several weeks. There are a lot of fishermen working Mountain Point, trolling is more offshore with a contingent of boats snagging fish near the creek. There are a lot of chinook in the area, though they are relatively “off the bite”. Anecdotal information suggests the only real bite is at first light and twilight. There is also some effort at Clover Pass, though not nearly as much.

Reports from Whale Pass suggest fishing for summer coho is very good. Some of these fish are also being caught in the Ketchikan area fishery.

SSRAA Cost Recovery: We began fishing Neets Bay on 25 June. We basically cleaned up some kings and caught a handful of chums. The bay is very quiet right now. We anticipate the first good harvest sometime after the 4^th. Cost recovery is covered in more detail under the heading of “cost recovery”.

The graphics below are only minimum estimates of current harvest. These numbers will grow as all the coded wire tags are processed over the next several weeks. It generally takes three or four weeks from harvest for the numbers to “settle”.

Fishery Update, 20 June 2008.

Spring Troll: About 425 trollers have participated in spring fisheries to date. ADF&G estimates that about 18,300 Treaty chinook will be harvested in this fishery. Far and away the largest harvest has been from District 113 (about 11,200) with decent numbers of fish harvested in D109 (6,000), 112 (3,400), 114 (1,500) and 108 (1,400). The price for spring troll chinook has slightly decreased over the past week to about $7.70 per pound – though we do not have information for this week.

SSRAA-produced chinook have been caught by troll predominantly in the NE and NW Quadrants in the early fishery while the harvest in the SE quadrant – primarily at Mt. Point and in D108 – has predominated the most recent catch. While chinook from all SSRAA release sites have contributed to the spring harvest, to date Anita Bay has been the largest contributor, primarily because of the fish caught in D108. The Herring Cove fish have also been strong contributors.

Reliable anecdotal information suggests some of the terminal troll fisheries, particularly Mt. Point and Neets Bay, have not been as good this year as they were in the last several years. One thing is obvious; the killer whales have learned when and where to take advantage of the fish returning to Whitman Lake. Both the terminal troll and sport fisheries at Mt. Point suffer when orca is eating kings. It is my impression that the whales have stayed longer this year. What was generally a one-week or 10-day disruption has been three weeks or more this year. It is harder to explain what might be going on at Neets, though those fish have never been a significant target for terminal troll.

Through week 24 trollers have harvested about 60% of the SSRAA kings they caught at the same date in 2007. The drift fishery has harvested almost the same number of kings that they harvested in 2007. It looks like the fish are getting past the trollers, which could easily relate to troll effort, fishing patterns (fuel costs), or fish behavior.

Drift net: A relatively large number of Anita Bay fish have been harvested in Districts 106 and 108 and those numbers are growing. Fish from Neets Bay, Whitman Lake and Crystal Lake releases are also being harvested in this fishery. This week there were 73 boats fishing D108 with 30 kings per boat harvested. A good portion of those kings was of SSRAA origin. These fish will not be in the tag database as yet.

The Anita Bay THA is currently open to fishing, with a seine rotation and fish have been harvested from the terminal area. Likewise, the final rotation in Neets Bay was over several hours ago (noon on the 20^th). Gill netters who participated caught chinook as well as some chum. The fish are in good condition and prices remained good, over $4 for bright fish and slightly less for dusky. While Neets rotational fisheries are completed, Anita remains open. Kings will be entering the THA at Anita Bay for the next 3 weeks. Please look at the rotational calendar on the web page for specific concerning the rotational fishery as well as changes in the boundaries of the THA related to the crab fishery.

Summer Coho: The harvest of summer coho, primarily from the Neck Lake release, increased significantly this week. There were 20 boats in D106 with 85 coho harvested per boat. These are primarily summer coho with scales set. Unfortunately the value of these fish is confused by the small number of feeder fall coho mixed with the harvest. Self-marketers concentrate on these fish and are rewarded by good prices in the market place. Summer coho are more numerous at this date than we recall from past years, we do not know if this is due to earlier than usual run timing, a larger than usual run. There is some anecdotal information suggesting killer whales may also be discovering these fish, but to date – if that is true - it does not seem to have had a negative impact on the harvest.

Sport Harvest: The number of SSRAA chinook showing in the sport fishery continues to increase as these fish enter local Ketchikan fisheries at Mt. Point and Clover Pass. The sport fishery has the same issue with killer whales as commercial trollers at Mt. Point. With any luck the whales will head elsewhere, leaving the last three or four weeks of the return undisturbed. There were no new entries of sport harvest in the coded wire tag database this week. This simply indicates that samples were not processed, not that there was no harvest.

It is possible summer coho may be entering this fishery as in some years the Neck Lake fish are available in Ketchikan area fisheries, but to date that has not happened. There are certainly some summer coho available in Whale Pass.

SE Seine: The first SE major seine opening will occur on 22 June. The open areas will be Hidden Falls, Port Augusta, Tenakee Inlet, and Kendrick Bay as well as a portion of District 2 immediately outside of Kendrick. While we do not anticipate large numbers of summer chum in Kendrick at this date, it is not uncommon for some fish to have returned by 22 June.

The THA’s at Neets Bay and Anita Bay are currently open to net rotations primarily to harvest king salmon. The most recent opening at Neets involved 7 seiners all of whom harvested some king salmon. The last rotation is concluding today. We do not have information about participation at Anita Bay. The seine price for kings is near $3.

SSRAA Cost Recovery: We will begin fishing Neets Bay on 25 June. There appear to be a handful of large chums in Neets Bay. We have not seen many large 5-year-old fish the past several years, so to some degree this is good information…if for no other reason than that harvest will begin a little earlier than it has in recent years.

We will open the raceway at Neck Lake next week. We anticipate harvest on or before the 4^th of July.

Fishery Update, 17 June 2008.

There are four current fisheries harvesting SSRAA-produced chinook: spring hatchery access troll; drift in D106/108, SE sport, and rotational net fisheries at Anita Bay and Neets Bay THA’s. Numbers on commercial harvest from the ADF&G tag lab do not “settled” for a week to 10 days after the harvest of a tagged fish – precise data will lag a harvest by at least that time. Likewise, THA data is not a high priority for the department and those numbers are often not available for several weeks. We will sometimes include a minimal harvest estimate prior to the final estimate from ADF&G, but these estimates should never exceed the actual harvest. It can take from three to four weeks for sport fishing information to “settle” in the Department’s database. We will include that number as available. The graphics following this report should be considered minimal numbers until at least several weeks have passed beyond a harvest date.

Spring Troll: About 423 trollers have participated in spring fisheries to date with a harvest of approximately 17,000 chinooks. Far and away the largest harvest has been from District 113 (about 8,500) with decent numbers of fish harvested in D109, 112, 114 and 108. The price for spring troll chinook has slightly decreased over the past week to about $7.67 per pound. The spring troll harvest is currently about 65% of what was harvested in the same period last year and about 35% of the fish are Alaska Hatchery origin (ADF&G). The percentage of hatchery fish should increase through the fishery as these fish near their terminal areas and are more concentrated.

SSRAA-produced chinook has been caught by troll predominantly in the NE and NW Quadrants, while some Anita Bay fish have been caught in D108. While chinook from all SSRAA release sites have contrib