Southeast commercial king salmon harvest closed July 12

The Southeast Alaska commercial troll fishery closed to the retention of chinook salmon at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, July 12.

That’s when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game expected that the target of 77,100 chinook for the summer’s first retention period would be reached.

The commercial summer troll fishery for chinook opened July 1, after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of a previous court order that would have prevented the fishery from opening.

A lawsuit filed by a Washington state-based conservation organization against the National Marine Fisheries Service is aimed at protecting the southern resident killer whales, which spend part of the year in Puget Sound. The group argued that trolling for king salmon in Southeast should be stopped until federal fisheries authorities can write a plan for harvesting the kings that complies with the Endangered Species Act and protects the food source for the orcas.

A federal judge had ruled to block the fishery, but the Appeals Court last month said the fishery could proceed while the case continues.

The state of Alaska appealed the original court order.

The summer troll fishery for chinook is divided into two retention periods, with an allocation this year of about 106,800 fish. Trollers can catch the remainder of their chinook allocation during a second opener, which will begin no later than Aug. 20.

Overall annual harvest limits for migratory chinook are determined by the U.S.-Canada by Pacific Salmon Treaty process, and regulated by the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

As of July 7, fishermen were earning an average of $5.90 per pound for chinook, $1.57 per pound for coho and 40 cents per pound for chum, according to a July 12 report in the Ketchikan Daily News. The average weights were 10.5 pounds for chinook, 4.3 pounds for coho and 7.5 pounds for chum, Fish and Game said.

The average weight for chinook is below the 2022 and the 5-year average by 0.6 and 0.8 pound, respectively. The average weight for coho salmon is below the 2022 and 5-year average by 0.5 and 0.9 pound, respectively. Average weight for chum is below the 2022 and the 5-year average by 1.8 and 0.9 pound, respectively.