2000 DIPAC Harvest Season Update
(Use links below to view graphs of harvest updates)
District 111 - Taku Inlet District 115 - Lynn Canal DIPAC Chum Cost Recovery Snettisham Cost Recovery
August 16 – Sockeye cost recovery was slowed down last Wednesday to just the fish returning to the hatchery ladder and broodstock collection. The escapement goal for Speel Lake was reached on August 8, lowering the wild-stock concerns in Port Snettisham. The common property started fishing in the hatchery special harvest area in Speel Arm and will continue till further notice. This action is to work towards the 60 - 40 split between the common property and the hatchery cost recovery. As of August 15 the hatchery had harvest 223,000 pounds or about 51,000 sockeye. The common property harvest to date is approximately 30,000 Snettisham enhanced sockeye bring the harvest share to 35%. For the remainder of the season the hatchery will only harvest fish that return to the ladder for cost recovery.
August 7 – Chum cost recovery harvest at Amalga Harbor ended last Friday, August 4, with a total of 1,350,000 fish (12.8 million pounds) landed at Amalga for the season. An additional 230,000 fish (2.3 million pounds) were harvested in Gastineau Channel, for a current season total of 1,580,000 fish (15.1 million pounds) harvested for cost recovery. Additional fish may be harvested after egg takes are finished (after August 12).
Sockeye cost recovery started with a bang last week and is going strong. As of August 6 the hatchery had harvest 175,000 pounds or about 39,000 sockeye. The cost recovery harvest is being done by 3 gillnetters and a small seiner. The common property harvest to date is approximately 15,000 Snettisham enhanced sockeye bring the harvest share to 28%. Hopefully next week will see some harvest time inside Port Snettisham with Speel Lake wild stock escapement starting to increase. As of August 6 a total of 1,913 sockeye had been passed into Speel lake towards the escapement goal of 5,000 fish.
July 25 - Chum cost recovery is winding down after 3-plus weeks of non-stop fishing at Amalga Harbor. Catches dropped off early this week but cumulative totals are at record levels. A total of 1,250,000 chum (11.9 million pounds) have been harvested at Amalga Harbor and 228,000 chum (2.3 million pounds) were taken in Gastineau Channel near Sheep Creek through yesterday, July 24, for a grand total to date of 1,478,000 chum (14.2 million pounds).
Commercial gillnet catches of chum in Taku Inlet/Stephens Passage and Lynn Canal were down last week compared to the previous two weeks, but fishermen were still landing good numbers of summer chum. The cumulative total harvest of chum in Lynn Canal through the week ending July 22 (stat week 30) was 613,000 chum, with an estimated DIPAC contribution of 525,000 fish or 86% of the total. In Taku Inlet and Stephens Passage, the cumulative total was approximately 422,000 chum, of which approximately 408,000 (97%) were DIPAC fish.
Sockeye cost recovery will start this week at Snettisham Hatchery. Snettisham sockeye otolith marks have been recovered from a number of fishery both north and south of the hatchery.
July 17 – The chum return continues to come in strong as commercial fishers and DIPAC are making record or near-record catches for the week. Gillnetters in Taku Inlet and Stephens Passage (District 111) harvested about 130,000 chums last week (stat week 29, preliminary estimate), with a total catch for the season of over 287,000 chum. The estimated hatchery contribution to date in District 111 is approximately 277,000, or 97% of the total. Catches in Lynn Canal (District 115) were a record smashing 198,000 chum for stat week 28, and a preliminary estimate of 138,500 chum for last week (week 29), with a cumulative total of over 422,000 fish. (This figure is expected increase once the rest of the catch from Boat Harbor has been tabulated.) The estimated contribution of DIPAC chum in the Lynn Canal fishery to date is approximately 356,000, or 84% of the total.
Cumulative cost recovery totals through yesterday are 606,000 fish (6.3 million pounds) at Amalga Harbor and 154,000 fish (1.6 million pounds) at Gastineau Channel near Sheep Creek, for a total of 760,000 fish (7.9 million pounds).
July 11 – The chum return continues to be strong and large catches of chums have been recorded in the commercial gillnet fisheries and DIPAC cost recovery areas. Preliminary estimates of commercial catches in District 111 (Taku Inlet/Stephens Passage) indicated that at least 81,000 chum were harvested by gillnetters last week (stat week 28). Likewise, District 115 (Lynn Canal) fishermen landed approximately 122,000 chum.
After 10 days of harvesting DIPAC seiners have landed approximately 246,000 fish (2.6 million pounds) of chum at Amalga Harbor and 62,000 fish (616,000 pounds) in Gastineau Channel near Sheep Creek. This represents approximately 25% and 15% of the preseason forecasted cost recovery totals for Amalga Harbor and Gastineau Channel, respectively. Average size is currently 10.5 lbs.
July 5 – Commercial catches of chum
in the Taku Inlet/Stephens Passage and Lynn Canal gillnet fisheries last week
(stat week 27) were very good. Approximately
53,000 and 63,000 chums were harvested in the two districts, respectively.
Chum salmon cost recovery harvest began at Amalga Harbor on Friday, June 30 with the first landing made Saturday, July 1. The run is characterized as a strong early showing of chums in the commercial gillnet fisheries and terminal hatchery area. Cumulative harvest through July 4 is approximately 65,000 fish totaling over 717,000 lbs, with chums averaging about 11 lbs.
District 111 - Taku Inlet - Chum
District 111 - Taku Inlet - Sockeye
District 115 - Lynn Canal - Chum
Snettisham Cost Recovery - Sockeye
