Sockeye

A huge sockeye salmon run on the Kenai River has prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to make changes to sport and personal-use fishing on the river, including an increase in sockeye bag limits and a 24-hour dipnetting fishery for the rest of the month. Fish and Game says the new bag and possession limits of six per day for non-king salmon 16 inches or longer, of which no more than two may be coho, will go into effect Thursday. The changes do not affect the Russian River and fly-fishing-only waters of the Upper Kenai near the Russian, where limits remain at three per day and in possession.

Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries have netted 19.9 million fish so far this year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  In Bristol Bay, fishermen are over halfway to the state's forecast harvest.  As of July 1st, fishermen have netted about 15 million fish. The state forecast a harvest of 28.5 million, with an run of 38.5 million.   "In Bristol Bay, you know which is the big fishery, right now, the big fishery in June and the first half of July is the sockeye fishery, and that is tracking fairly close to last year," said Geron Bruce, the assistant director of Commercial Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Emergency orders are impacting salmon fisheries in the Seward and Kodiak areas. In Resurrection Bay, an emergency order has increased the bag and possession limit of sockeye salmon in the northern waters of the bay, from June 18 through Sunday, July 31. In the marine waters north of a line from Caines Head to the north point of Thumb Cove, the limits for sockeye salmon are 12 per day and 12 in possession, according to a release from the...

The Board of Fisheries will debate over 300 proposals during its 15-day meeting in Anchorage starting Sunday, from preserving the king salmon fishery on the Kenai River to bolstering salmon returns in the Matanuska Valley. One group of proposals is already stirring up controversy: the 28 proposals before the board that deal with dipnetting on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers. Some of them would eliminate the use of boats for personal-use fishing on the Kenai River, eliminate the retention of king salmon caught while dipnetting and shorten the season.

2010 was a record breaking year for pink salmon in Prince William Sound. Commercial fishermen netted 69 million pinks this year. Commercial fishermen across the state netted over $500 million, the largest paycheck in 18 years. But the cash didn't span the state evenly. Fifty-five percent of the fish were caught in Prince William Sound and Bristol Bay.   Fisheries experts say commercial fishermen can thank good returns and the price of salmon. The price tag has gone up the past three years, partly because more consumers are recognizing the health benefits of Alaska wild caught salmon as opposed to farmed salmon.

by The Associated Press Sunday, August 1, 2010 KENAI, Alaska -- The commercial fishing season has turned out to be better than expected in Upper Cook Inlet. The run of sockeye salmon is far greater than predicted and the price also has increased, from no more than $1.20 a pound last year to $1.75 this season. Pat Shields with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says the preseason forecast for sockeyes was a run of 3.6 million. He says the run is now expected to top 5 million.

by Lori Tipton Monday, July 19, 2010 NAKNEK, Alaska -- One of Naknek's biggest fish processors is also one of its newest. Leader Creek Fisheries began with just a few fishermen when its processing plant opened in the summer of 2000, but it has grown to more than 400 seasonal employees and its products are making their way across the globe. Bristol Bay is home to the world's largest sockeye salmon population. Fishermen haul in sockeye salmon and send them straight to processing plants like Leader Creek's.

by Jackie Bartz Tuesday, July 6, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sockeye salmon pulled from Bristol Bay are the focus of a regional grassroots campaign in Washington and Oregon. "Savor Bristol Bay" is targeting the proposed Pebble Mine using the dinner plates of customers.          Nearly 50 restaurants in Seattle and Portland have teamed up with the anti-Pebble group Trout Unlimited. All week they'll be exclusively serving up sockeye salmon to bring awareness to their anti-pebble campaign.

It has been slow going for sockeyes in Bristol Bay. The commercial fishing season historically hits its peak on July 4, but this year that wasn't the case. Biologists say the delay can be blamed on the weather, which in Naknek has been rainy and cold. The weather may have slowed down the salmon, but the same can't be said for the fishermen. "I've been doing it for 24 years and my dad's been up here since '62, commercial fishing every summer," said commercial fisherman Marcus Williams.

by Jackie Bartz Friday, June 11, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- During its salmon runs, the banks of the Russian River are crawling with anglers. You can hardly move an inch without hooking the person next to you. Instead of combat fishing, however, people kicked back and enjoyed a little space Friday. The river opened for fishing at midnight Thursday. Most visitors to the river are interested in hooking early sockeye salmon, but the fish are few and far between. Some skilled and perhaps lucky anglers managed to catch their limit of three sockeyes, but most say they just practiced their technique and only caught one -- if any. Michigan angler Marjan Mohamadi said she had hope Friday.