The purse seine fleet set a single day chum salmon catch record for the entire state with a haul of over 980,000 chum salmon taken at Crawfish Inlet south of Sitka on Thursday, Aug. 30 according to Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA) manager Steve Reifenstuhl. Seiners took 1.13 million fish in two openings.
In a year where the pink salmon catch has been said to be the worst since 1976, Reifenstuhl said Tuesday many boats doubled their season income in one day.
The manager added, “Crawfish Inlet will top 2.5 million fish; more than three times the forecast of 680,000 fish.”
The inlet was designated as open to troll fishing, but with the large return, seiners were allowed two openings under a common property fishery allowed by Silver Bay Seafoods, the contracted cost recovery processor for NSRAA, according to Reifenstuhl.
Reifenstuhl said 90 seine boats brought in a one-day catch valued at $6 million with a wholesale value of $13 million.
The returning chums were the result of brood stocks released in 2014 and 2015 (3 and 4 year fish) that both survived very well, with a 7% survival rate. Normal mortality rates for brood stocks are 50% to 90%, but in the inlet, survival rates were higher because there are fewer predators there.
Crawfish Inlet is a remote release site for the NSRAA and is located about 40 miles south of Sitka on Baranof Island.
The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game announced a third seine opening at Crawfish Inlet for Thursday, Aug. 6.
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