As always, lots of other fisheries are also going on across Alaska besides salmon.
Starting in Southeast, about 160 crabbers will wrap up a two month Dungeness crab fishery that ends on August 15. Catches are reportedly going slower than last year’s near record.
A sablefish fishery opens in Northern districts on August 15 for 73 shareholders with a catch of 1,137,867 pounds.
Southeast’s summer lingcod fishery has wrapped up with a catch of 136,500 pounds.
The spot shrimp fishery remains open in some regions through August 30 with a 400,000 pound harvest limit.
At Prince William Sound a sablefish fishery is ongoing through August 30 with a 208,000 pound catch limit. Likewise, a lingcod fishery runs from July through year’s end with a 32,600 pound harvest.
It’s been slow going for Prince William Sound’s shrimp fishery that opened in April and has been extended to September 15. That catch limit is 70,000 pounds.
Pot hauls for Kodiak’s Dungeness crab fishery were nearing 900,000 pounds by 19 boats.
Crabbers are dropping pots for nearly 6 million pounds of golden king crab along the Aleutian Islands.
Alaska’s halibut landings are slightly ahead of last year at this time with9,7 million pounds crossing the docks so far. That’s 52% of the roughly 19 million pound catch limit.
Prices usually tank during the summer but that’s still not the case and fishermen are fetching near or over $6 a pound at most ports, with Homer paying $7.25, $7.65 and $7.85 depending on halibut size.
Sablefish, or black cod catches were nearing 19 million pounds, or 44%, of the 43.4 million pound quota. Homer also was paying the most for black cod with prices ranging from $1.10 for under two pounders to $6.25 for 7 ups, according to the Fish Ticket by Alaska Boats and Permits.
Fishing continued for cod, flatfish, pollock and more in the Bering Sea. A limit of 45,000 Chinook salmon can be taken as bycatch by pollock trawlers, down from 60,000 last year.
Pollock fishing will reopen for Gulf of Alaska trawlers on September 1.
We’ll update Alaska salmon catches tomorrow.
