SSRAA Update SW 29

Your Weekly

In-Season Update

Troll

ADF&G reports, "The first Chinook salmon opening of the general summer troll season began on July 1 to target approximately 38,000 fish. The fishery was open for Chinook salmon retention for 4 days. Landing reports indicate a similar number of vessels participated in the fishery compared with the previous season.

Preliminary fish ticket data reported through July 17 indicates a total of 472 troll permits have landed 45,000 Chinook salmon. Harvest reported on fish tickets for other species include 74,000 coho and 60,300 chum salmon. Average prices are $8.04/lb for Chinook, $1.89/lb for coho and $0.68 /lb for chum salmon. Current average weights are 10.7 lb for Chinook, 5.0 lb for coho, and 7.7 lb for chum salmon. Chinook salmon average weight is above the 2024 average by 0.1 lb but below the 5-year average by 0.1 lb, while coho salmon average weight is above the 2024 and 5-year averages by 0.1 lb and 0.3 lb. Chum salmon average weight is below the 2024 and 5-year averages by 1.1 lb and 0.3 lb.

The current regional power troll coho salmon catch rate for this week (SW 29) is 78 coho/boat/day, with the highest catch rate in the Southern Outside area at 86/boat/day, followed by the Central Outside area at 70/boat/day."

Preliminary coded-wire tag (CWT) expansions from the Chinook summer troll fishery are below.

Table 1. Coded-wire tag expansions of Chinook salmon harvested in the first retention period of the summer troll fishery.

For SSRAA released Chinook salmon, the highest contributions to the summer troll fishery are from Port St. Nick (53%), Carroll Inlet (20%), and Herring Cove (17%). CWT expansions are still preliminary at this time.

Table 2. Coded-wire tag expansions of SSRAA Chinook salmon caught in the summer troll fishery by release site.

Table 3. SSRAA Chinook salmon contributions by release site, gear group, and fishery.

In the Neets Bay chum troll fishery, directed chum landings reported on fish tickets in West Behm Canal and Neets Bay during SW 29 indicate 47 vessels have taken 21,100 chum salmon from 83 landings at a rate of 254 fish/landing. The seasonal total for this area indicates that 48 vessels have taken 52,800 chum salmon from 201 landings at a rate of 262 fish per landing.

Otolith data collected from the chum troll fishery indicate a catch composition of 53% 3yos, 42% 4yos, and 4% 5yos with an average weight of 7.4lbs for SW 29, compared to 8.5lbs for SW 28.

Figure 1. Age-class composition of chum salmon harvested in the Neets Bay chum troll fishery by stat week.

For more information on the troll fishery, follow the links:

Spring Troll

Blue Sheet Summary

Chum

Figure 2. SSRAA chum salmon 2025 forecast (orange bars) vs. the 2025 return (blue bars) to date by release site. Error bars represent the high and low range of the forecast by site.

Gillnet

Catches increased at Tree Point, from 29,000 chum salmon in SW 28 to 41,000 in SW 29. This week's catch composition was 45% Nakat 4yos, 22% Nakat 3yos, and 16% wild chum salmon. The average weight was 8.1lbs, compared to 8.8lbs for SW 28.

Figure 3. Chum salmon catch in the 101 gillnet fishery in 2025 (red bar) compared to the 10-year average (grey bar).

In district 6, catches dropped to just below the 10-year average, with 15,000 chum salmon harvested in SW 29. It should be noted that while this is significantly lower than the harvest in SW 28, the number of days the fishery was open was also reduced from four days to two. Otoliths indicate that the large catch in SW 28 was made up of Neets Bay 3yos (23%), Anita Bay 4yos (20%), Anita Bay 3yos (7%), Burnett 4yos (18%), and Burnett 3yos (9%). The average weight was 7.0lbs, compared to 7.8lbs in SW 27.

Figure 4. Chum salmon catch in the 106 gillnet fishery for 2025 (red line) compared to the 10-year average (grey bars).

ADF&G advisory announcements with the most up-to-date information and catch numbers can be found here.

Seine

In the 101-seine fishery, 42% of the catch is attributed to non-marked chum salmon, which includes wild and MIC chum salmon. The remainder of the catch is 24% Nakat 4yos, 11% Nakat 3yos, 11% Neets Bay 4yos, and 6% Neets Bay 3yos. The average weight for SW 29 is 7.1lbs, which is identical to the average weight in SW 28.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to obtain pure samples from the 102-seine fishery. Typically, 75% of this catch is comprised of Kendrick chum salmon.

On the coast, Port Asumcion bound chum salmon are making a strong showing, with 3 and 4yos representing 8% and 42% of the catch, respectively. Deep Inlet chum salmon were also represented (13%), as were wild chum salmon (21%).

In the 107-seine fishery, the SW 29 catch of 31,000 chum salmon was 46% Neets Bay 3yos, 14% Neets Bay 4yos, 23% Anita 4yos, and 8% Anita 3yos. The average weight was 7.5lbs, compared to 8.0lbs last week.

Otolith processing from the Thursday seine opener is still underway.

ADF&G Advisory Annoucements

Cost Recovery

Kendrick Bay reopened to common property fishing on July 10th, following the successful harvest of 1.3 million pounds for cost recovery. At Burnett Inlet, cost recovery is ongoing, with approximately 1.4 million pounds harvested so far, putting us at almost 50% of our cost recovery goal. There is currently a large volume of chum inside Burnett Inlet, including the 800,000 pounds needed for broodstock, and harvest vessels are actively fishing. Otolith reads from Burnett Inlet cost recovery are 80-85% 4yos for SW 29, with an average weight of 8lbs and a sex ratio of 56% male. At Neets Bay, 1.5 million pounds have been harvested to date, or about 25% of our forecast. Otolith samples show an age composition of ~50% 4yos, 30% 3yos and 10% 5yos, with an average weight of 8lbs and a sex ratio of 68% male. In Port Asumcion, almost 900,000 pounds have been harvested to date, or 50% of our forecast. Fishing is ongoing at all sites. Overall, a total of 5.1 million pounds of cost recovery have been harvested to date, putting us at 43% of our total forecast.

Figure 5. SSRAA summer chum cost recovery actual (purple) vs. forecasted (orange) harvest in pounds by release site. Numbers above the purple bar represent the harvest in pounds.

Broodstock

SSRAA's broodstock goal for 2025 is 213 million eggs split 60/40 between Neets Bay and Burnett Inlet. Broodstock collection for Neets Bay began last week, using a passive brood gate and a seiner. To date, 30,000 chum salmon are behind the barrier net, 2,000 of which recruited through the gate. Burnett Inlet also has the broodstock they need staged in front of the fish ladder. Eggtake is expected to begin around the end of July.

Figure 6. SSRAA broodstock goal (red) vs. actual (blue) number of eggs collected by site.

Summary

We are currently at 40% of the SSRAA summer chum forecast, with almost 2 million chum salmon harvested to date. Harvest through SW 29 typically represents 32% of the total return, with the peak of the return expected next week.

Figure 7. SSRAA summer chum return by stat week (A.) and cumulatively (B.) for actual (red) vs. forecasted (black) numbers.

Table 4. SSRAA chum salmon contributions by release site, gear group, and fishery.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. I will be updating the SSRAA website weekly to reflect the information shared in these updates. The best way to reach me is via email at tfrost@ssraa.org or by calling the main office at 907-225-9605.

Happy Fishing!

Attention Sport Fishers!

For the next couple of years, all of SSRAA's returning Chinook salmon are marked with a missing adipose fin. We need your help recording how many of these fish are caught!

Because some wild Chinook salmon are also missing their adipose fin, we are focusing our survey in areas where we only expect SSRAA Chinook salmon. These areas include Herring Cove in Ketchikan and Rocky Point Lodge in Petersburg. Please note: this survey is not intended to replace the ADF&G marine creel program or the mail-out survey. The information collected by the ADF&G program directly supports management and helps protect and maintain Alaska’s sport fisheries.