Sockeye Salmon Continue Strong Return

Jay Barrett/KMXT
Two fisheries in the Kodiak Management Area continue to see a lot of sockeye salmon harvest, less than a week into the season. Cape Igvak and Wide Bay had over 93,000 reds caught through Tuesday, while the Karluk, Northwest Kodiak and Southwest Afognak area has registered nearly 86,000.
On Tuesday, 23,682 sockeye were harvested in the KMA, bringing the season total to 204,298. Over 1,2,00 chum were caught on Tuesday, boosting its total over 9,000. There have been 1,600 king salmon netted – largely on the west side – so far this season, and 538 kinda early humpies. No silver salmon have yet been counted.
The Foul Bay Special Harvest Area has accounted for nearly 4,200 reds caught, while the Waterfall SHA has seen over 2,600.

As far as escapement goes, the sockeye are slamming the Karluk River Weir, which is – by far – seeing its best red season since 2004. Escapement through Tuesday was 136,307, which is 132,701 more than the same time last year. Over 10,000 fish went by on Tuesday.
The Chignik River is still behind the last two years, but much further ahead than any other year since 2005.
The Ayakulik saw nearly 14,000 escape on Tuesday, boosting its season total to nearly 42,000. Upper Station and the Buskin are both well ahead of recent years, while Litnik is neck-and-neck with last year’s return.

All those numbers are through Tuesday. We usually get updates from Fish and Game in mid morning, so tune into the Midday Report for an update.