Another opportunity for trollers

Southeast Alaska trollers will get a fourth summer opener beginning just after midnight Thursday, with 5,400 treaty Chinook available, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in an advisory announcement.

Each permit holder will be allocated 15 Chinook for the 10-day opener.

The third summer opener ran from Aug. 24 through Sept. 2, with 331 permit holders taking about 4,400 Chinook, the department said.

Salmon notes

• The Southeast Alaska summer troll fishery will see a third opener beginning just after midnight tonight, with about 6,800 treaty Chinook up for grabs. Each troll permit holder will be allocated 18 Chinook for the 10-day fishery.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the purchase of nearly $877,000 in canned pink salmon from Silver Bay Seafoods for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program.

• British Columbia activists behind a campaign known as Alaska's Dirty Secret are again accusing Southeast Alaska fishermen of intercepting, or "stealing," Canadian salmon. They've posted this video.

17 Chinook per permit

Two trollers at work. Pacific Fishing magazine archival photo

The second summer Chinook opener for Southeast Alaska trollers will begin just after midnight Friday, with each permit to be allocated 17 fish, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today.

Trollers will have 10 days to catch their salmon.

Overall, about 9,000 treaty Chinook remain up for grabs — a number too small for a competitive fishery. Thus, the department is going with equal shares of 17 Chinook per registered permit.

The first summer opener, in early July, produced a catch of 44,797 Chinook. The fish averaged 10.8 pounds and paid an average of $8.07 per pound.

Salmon notes

• The Bristol Bay salmon harvest stands at nearly 38 million fish, with daily catches now appearing to slow significantly. Deckboss still hasn't heard anything regarding ex-vessel prices.

• Southeast trollers will get a second summer Chinook opener next month, but the available quota won't be enough for a competitive fishery. So, the Department of Fish and Game plans to divide the quota among registered permit holders. After Aug. 1, the department will announce the number of Chinook per permit, and the dates for the planned 10-day opener.

Salmon notes

Here's a quick update as the Alaska salmon season continues to unfold.

• The statewide commercial catch now exceeds 2.8 million salmon, including 1.4 million sockeye and 1.2 million chums. These totals are small — we won't see really big numbers until the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery and the pink salmon fisheries kick in later in the summer. The state has forecast a total haul of 214.6 million salmon for this season.

• The first opener of the Southeast Alaska summer troll season will begin July 1 targeting about 36,500 treaty Chinook salmon, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today. That's way down from last year's initial quota of 64,700 Chinook.

Copper River closure

The Copper River District is closing to commercial driftnetting because "the Chinook salmon return may be weak and conservative management at this time is warranted," the state says in this advisory announcement.

Conservancy takes its ESA campaign to court

Making good on a threat, the Wild Fish Conservancy has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service, saying the agency has missed the deadline to decide whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

A big cut for Southeast Alaska trollers

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game today announced a preseason troll treaty harvest allocation for 2025 of 92,700 Chinook salmon, down 39 percent or 60,300 fish from last year.

A threat to sue

The Wild Fish Conservancy says it will sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for missing the deadline to determine whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Here's a press release the organization issued today.

NMFS this week provided an update to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Here it is:

Chinook Salmon Endangered Species Act Listing Petition Update

On May 24, 2024, NMFS announced a positive 90-day finding on a petition to list Chinook salmon in the GOA as threatened or endangered under the ESA, concluding that it presented substantial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. We convened a team of federal scientists to review the species’ status and extinction risk, and we invited experts from ADF&G and a tribal member to participate as advisors to the team. The Status Review Team (SRT) is making progress on the analysis and incorporating information from public comments, including an extensive letter from ADF&G and formal tribal consultations. The SRT has preliminarily identified Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) in the GOA and conducted demographic trend analyses at the ESU level. The SRT is compiling information about threats to the species in the region. The SRT will then synthesize the results of the demographic and threats analyses and assign an extinction risk category (low, medium, high) to each ESU. The SRT's analyses and conclusions of the risk assessment workshop will be summarized in a status review report to inform the 12-month finding.

Five things to watch

As we enter the new year, we're looking for big news on multiple fronts. Here's a handful of items worth tracking.

• The National Marine Fisheries Service has a Jan. 11 deadline for completing a status review of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon. NMFS began the review after the Wild Fish Conservancy petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

• The halibut stock is struggling, and we'll get a new read on the situation when the International Pacific Halibut Commission convenes its annual meeting Jan. 27-31 in Vancouver, B.C. "Harvest limits in Alaska will all likely be reduced in 2025," the Fishing Vessel Owners' Association reports in its most recent newsletter. Bob Alverson is association's manager and an IPHC commissioner.

• What will become of the huge King Cove processing plant? The facility was idled with the financial collapse of Peter Pan. Last we heard, a working group was considering the plant's future.

• The legislative task force evaluating the Alaska seafood industry's economic troubles has been meeting since summer. Will anything substantive come of this effort? The Alaska Legislature begins a new session on Jan. 21.

• Inauguration day for Donald Trump is Jan. 20, and a new president is always consequential for the fishing industry. We're eager to see who the administration names to lead NMFS. And Trump's vow to impose sweeping tariffs could have a major impact on the seafood business.

State posts Southeast Chinook run forecasts

Details in this advisory announcement.

A Kodiak trawl Chinook bycatch blowout

Here's the story from Nathaniel Herz and his Northern Journal.

Endangered Chinook?

Public comments are rolling in on a National Marine Fisheries Service finding that listing Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered "may be warranted."

The finding was in response to a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington state.

The idea of listing Chinook has raised considerable alarm across Alaska's fishing industry, with many organizations and individuals warning of serious economic damage were such an action actually taken.

NMFS is taking public comment until Sept. 6. You can read all the comments here.

We'll update this post periodically with links to select comments.

Alaska legislators

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

United Fishermen of Alaska

Kenai River Sportfishing Association

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

Wild Fish Conservancy

Alaska resource associations

Alaska Trollers Association

Purse Seine Vessel Owners' Association

Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association

Southeast Alaska Guides Organization

Petersburg Borough

Alaska Marine Conservation Council

Pacific Seafood Processors Association

Twelve more for trollers

Southeast Alaska trollers are getting a shot at 4,000 additional treaty Chinook salmon.

A 10-day fishery opens after midnight tonight, with 12 Chinook allocated per permit, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced.

Summer troll fishery set

The summer troll fishery will open July 1 targeting 64,700 treaty Chinook salmon, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today.

That's a considerable drop-off from last year's opening period target of 74,800 treaty Chinook.

Are Alaska Chinook really endangered?

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has written a briefing paper questioning the Endangered Species Act review of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon and spelling out the serious consequences of a listing.

More time, please

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is joining the state in requesting more time for public comment on an Endangered Species Act review of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon. Here's the letter.

State wants more time for Chinook listing comment

Here's the letter. And here's the background.

Agency to entertain Chinook listing

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that listing of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered "may be warranted."

This is a preliminary, pro forma finding by the agency; we remain far from any actual listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The NMFS announcement comes in response to a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, the same organization that's fighting in court to shut down the Southeast Alaska troll Chinook salmon fishery.

Emergency petition on Chinook bycatch denied

Details in this news release from the National Marine Fisheries Service.