The commercial pink salmon season in Kachemak Bay is on track to be a good year. As of Aug. 8, the seine fleet picked up roughly 180,000 pinks, well above the 88,000 fish harvested at this point in the season last year and about four times more pinks compared to 2016.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Biologist Glenn Hollowell said about 20 permit holders have participated in the southern district.
“Most of those fish we believe are going back to the Tutka Bay Hatchery, and the Tutka Hatchery special harvest area just opened today to common property harvest,” he added.
Cook Inlet Aquaculture, which operates the Tutka Bay Lagoon Hatchery, is nearing its cost recovery goal of about $4.5 million. Fishermen will be on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule for the common property fishery in Tutka Bay.
Hollowell said that run should last for about another three weeks, though fishing is expected to slow down during that time.
It’s been a different story for fishermen in the outer district, where deliveries of pinks to Homer processors has been spotty.
”We’re seeing what are pretty good numbers of fish coming in in terms of escapement. We’ve met a number of goals on the outer coast. Others are where they should be given the date,” Hollowell explained. “However, it seems like the commercial fishers are having a difficult time accessing really good numbers of commercially viable fish in places like Windy Bay and Rocky Bay.”
Rocky and Windy bay are two of the larger pink runs in the district, but fishing has been closed in both bays for about a week. Hollowell said there may be some opportunity for fishermen in the area later this month, but he said Fish and Game is taking a wait-and-see approach.
The department hasn’t tallied up the pink harvest in the outer district, but Hollowell said deliveries from the outer coast could pick up.
“I suspect once things slow down a little bit in the bay, there might be guys going out there prospecting and if they get on good numbers of fish, then the rest of the fleet will follow them out there,” he said.
Hollowell said pink returns on the outer coast have a history of running longer and said fishing in the district may last through the end of the month.
