BOF Proposal packet available

BOF proposal books are available on line http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.proposalbook.

Southeast and Yakutat Finfish & Shellfish

January 11-23, 2018

Harrigan Centennial Hall, Sitka

Comment deadline: December 28, 2017

More Bad News

This just in from Troy after flying yesterday

It looked like the run was going to develop well early on but didn’t. Water levels are low in a lot of the non-mainland smaller systems that don’t have a glacier or snow field above them. Not crisis mode yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing some die-offs where fish are already up the system.  As a result of concerns for escapement in just pure number fish, is the reason why I closed all of upper 9-B and portions of District 10. Escapement is lagging and downright poor in a few systems. D10 and upper 9-B are at the tail end of the Chatham Strait corridor and returns to these areas have taken a hit by the harvest in northern Chatham and Icy Straits.

Too Much Sun Is Bad For Fish!!

Weather the weather

So I contacted all the Regional Managers about water levels due to this extended dry spell. Everyone said it was not a concern yet except… today's surveys of lower District 3 showed very low water levels. A few of the Klakas streams had dried up completely. As Scott Walker said in his email, “I guess we now have something else to worry about.” He said Island streams on POW are the first to go dry.
Hopefully we won’t lose a significant number of the early escaped fish in systems that are prone to drying up. I’ll try to keep you updated as information is provided. Love the sun, but love the fish more!!  I don’t see any forecast of rain until Saturday.

Rafting Off

Hey everyone, just a reminder of the educate of rafting off

It's common practice and courtesy to tie up to LIKE vessels; fishing boats to fishing boats, sail boats to sail boats, yachts to yachts. Also to get permission from the vessel you are rafting to. Thanks! 

AMALGA LINES FOR JULY 27TH

These are the lines for Amalga for July 27^th.  There is a personal use Red Crab fishery starting on the 27^th at 5am, so please be considerate of boats trying to exit the launch area; there will likely be a dramatic increase in sports boats in the area. 

GREAT FISHING!

SHA UPDATE

Hidden Falls-

The return forecast has been upgraded to 400,000 or so chum. If sufficient broodstock is collected there may be an opening on Thursday the 27^th.

Amalga-

DIPAC has not done any cost recovery since Tuesday the 18^th at Amalga. The last Seine opening will be at 9am on the 27^th. The portion of the inner bay that was open last week is expected to be open again. The line is expected to be pulled back in toward the shore and not extend to Bird and Gull Island for the final opening. There will be a personal use Red Crab fishery starting at 5am on the 27^th in the area, and heavy use of the Amalga boat launch is expected. If the effort by the seine fleet is similar to last week, the smaller SHA should not be a safety or efficiency concern for the fleet. DIPAC will start Friday to clean up any excess fish at Amalga.

Neets Bay-

 The troll fishery has caught their allowed 200,000+ fish in the SHA and is now restricted to fishing in the Behm. SSRAA is half way to their cost recovery goal so needs about another 4 million pounds. They need about 200,000 fish for broodstock and have put about 50,000 over the barrier net. Neets has a long way to go before any potential rotation could occur. Numbers in the corridor fisheries don’t suggest a super, but rather an average return. 

Plans for a District 4 Opening

From the Desk of Scott Walker Ketchikan Area Management Biologist

 A short discussion on the issues surrounding the District 4 purse seine fishery. This is a snapshot of the present situation which will change continually as the salmon return progresses.

In case you forgot:

The Pacific Salmon Treaty states that the United States shall…Manage the Alaska District 4 purse seine fishery prior to stat week 31 to harvest 2.45 % of the AAH of Nass and Skeena sockeye each year. The AAH is the total return of Nass and Skeena sockeye minus the escapement of 1.1 million fish. For this year where it looks like the treaty escapement won’t be met,  we will be using actual escapement.

SKEENA RIVER

The 2016 Babine Counting Fence jack sockeye count was the worst on record, at less than 0.06% of normal.  In addition, the proportion of 4 year-old sockeye in the 2016 Skeena sockeye aggregate was approximately 20%.  As such, the total Skeena sockeye return (TR)  was forecasted at 595,000.  The latest Total Return To Canada (TRTC) was announced at 434,000 sockeye. We then estimate the Alaskan Catch and add it to the TRTC for a TR of  475,000. The Alaskan catch is based on a host of assumptions, but we have pretty good historical data. So, for District 4 we have around 7,000 Canadian sockeye + Alaskan sockeye for an estimated 11,000 total sockeyes to be harvested during the treaty period. Last year Canadian sockeye composed 59% of the D4 sockeye catch in the treaty period. We would expect it lower this year with the smaller forecast. This is summarized in the table below. The Canadians put out a update each Tuesday.

NASS RIVER

Nass River sockeye returns are forecasted to be slightly below the 20-year average with an expected Total Return to Canada (TRTC) of 454,000. The TRTC was announced yesterday at 262,000 sockeyes.  Add Alaska Sockeye  of 50,000 ? (20% of total return for recent 10 year period) for 310,000 – my guess is that it will eventually be lower.

So, my plan is to open D4 on Sunday for 10 to 15 hours.  We have about 11,000 sockeye to harvest in 4 more potential openings .  We are in continual discussion with our Canadian counterparts and are watching the Tyee Test Fishery closely.  The plan after July 16 will depend on how our AAH performs, Canadian returns and Alaskan Catches.    

Thanks to the Captain and Crew of the F/V Western Harvester

Harbor Master David Borg had this to say-

"I wanted to send a shout out to the Captain and Crew of the F/V Western Harvester for their timely assistance Monday morning.  Harbor staff were made aware of a 24 foot Bayliner Trophy taking on water and sinking on D Float in Statter Harbor.  Staff attempted to dewater the vessel but couldn’t get ahead of the flooding.  The vessel sank at the dock.  Western Harvester came alongside and were able to hoist the vessel out of the water enough to allow pumps to dewater the boat.  They saved the owner a lot of time, money and aggravation with their quick response!  Kudos to the Western Harvester crew!

PLEASE DUMP YOUR WASTE OIL APPROPRIATELY

The Harbormaster has been very helpful at accommodating commercial needs and concerns. There are recycle bins at Auke Bay for cardboard, plastic and aluminum. There is a 55 gal drum for your waste oil, but you are responsible to dump it out of the 5 gallon buckets, not leave it like this please!

I'm not saying it's only us, but please police our fleet so it's not a point of contention.

Thanks and good fishing!

July 13th Amalga Lines

These will be the lines for the Amalaga opening on July 13th. 

Please don't use your sodium lights and don't anchor in the cost recovery area. There is not a place to dispose of waste oil at the Amalga boat launch. If you need to dispose of waste oil Auke Bay has that capability. Please give your garbage to the tender or dump at Auke Bay. Auke Bay trash is collected every day, Amalga only once a week. The trash outside the dumpster is causing bear problems. There will not be another garbage pick up til Thursday and the dumpster is already overflowing.

Other than that, good fishing!!

Line change at Amalga

The lines at Amalga will encompass most of the SHA. Map and lines will be posted as soon as they are released by Fish & Game.

Official Amalga lines

The sliver of an extended area we hoped for will not occur this opening or probably this year. Below is the are the Area Management Biologist will open--  Please do not anchor in the colored area until  6 pm on Wednesday. Thanks!

AMALGA - DON'T ANCHOR IN COLORED AREA!!!

PLEASE!!! STAY OUTSIDE THE GREEN OR BLUE AREA, HOWEVER IT APPEARS IN YOUR COPY, UNTIL WEDNESDAY AT 6 PM. 

THESE ARE PROPOSED LINES, LOOK TO THE FISH AND GAME ANNOUNCEMENT FOR CONFIRMATION OF LINES. 

DO NOT USE YOUR SODIUM LIGHTS PLEASE! ALSO BE RESPECTFUL OF RESIDENCE IN THE AREA CONCERNING NOISE, GARBAGE, ETC.....