Spring troll fishery opens early

By Dani Pa;mer

Sentinel writer

PETERSBURG ­ ­– The 2015 spring troll fishery got its early start this week.

The fishery opened in select locations at 12:01 a.m. today, Thursday. Last year, the first spring troll fishery opened on May 1.

Frederick Sound, Ernest Sound, the Neets Bay Terminal Harvest Area and the Hidden Falls Terminal Harvest Area opened and will remain so through April 30, according to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game press release.

“Frederick Sound has always been a good area,” Sitka Troll Fishery Biologist Pattie Skannes said during a public meeting in Petersburg last week, when she noted it was one area that would likely open seven days a week this month.

The Ketchikan Area, Mountain Point, North Sumner Strait, Chatham Strait, Sitka Sound, Lisianski Inlet and Point Sophia are also open, but will only remain so through 11:59 p.m. April 22. They’ll again open from 12:01 a.m. April 26 through 11:59 p.m. April 29, according to ADF&G.

If more than one area is fished, ADF&G requires each troller and tender to keep and report those catches on separate fish tickets.

“It is extremely important to keep fish caught in different fishery areas separated so that accurate dockside sampling can occur by department personnel,” ADF&G said in the press release.

The 2015 Chinook salmon abundance index and quota is still under review, Skannes said, noting it’s not likely to come out until the last week of April.

“It is undergoing further review by the Chinook Technical Committee,” she said through email.

The winter harvest saw 50,057 Chinook salmon caught through week 13, according to ADF&G data.

Coho salmon have “really increased over the last few years,” Sitka Assistant Troll Management Biologist Grant Hagerman noted during last week’s meeting.

The 2015 preseason terminal run size forecast for Stikine River and Taku River king salmon is too small, however, at 30,200 and 26,100 fish to allow for directed commercial fisheries. In season estimates may result in a higher Allowable Catch that would allow their implementation.

More spring opening dates, times and locations will be announced later.