Alaska commercial fishing communities Credit: NOAA
July brings lots of fishing updates from Southeast Alaska to the Bering Sea.
The biggest fish story so far is at Bristol Bay where hauls of sockeye salmon neared two million fish on each of two days last week. The Bay’s red salmon catch so far is at nearly 12 million fish.
We’ll update more Alaska salmon catches tomorrow.
In other fisheries: Catches for Dungeness crabbers in Southeast were going slow so far for 163 boats, but prices of $4.20 a pound are more than double last year’s. The crab fishery will run through mid-August and reopen in October.
Kodiak crabbers were getting $4.25 for their Dungeness, also more than double.
© Cameron Karsten for Grundens
A golden king crab fishery for quota holders opens at the Aleutians and Adak on August 1 for a combined catch of just under 6 million pounds.
Norton Sound opened for king crab in mid-June with a 290,000 pound catch limit.
A black rockfish fishery for 120,000 pounds closed at Kodiak on July 2.
Prince William Sound’s pot shrimp fishery remains open until mid-September with a catch of 70,000 pounds.
Also in the Sound – a lingcod fishery opened on July 1 for nearly 33,000 pounds.
Ling cod also opened at Cook Inlet with a 52,500 pound catch limit. The Inlet also opened July 1 for rockfish with a 150,000 pound harvest.
Cook Inlet also has a harvest for kelp washed up on beaches set at 86,000 pounds.
Alaska’s halibut catch has topped 7.5 million pounds and prices remain well over $6 a pound at most ports, reaching $7.25 at Homer.
Prices for sablefish, or black cod, also were on the rise in five weight categories, ranging from $1.10 for two pounders to $6.25 a pound for 7 ups.
A scallop fishery opened from Yakutat to the Bering Sea on July 1 with a harvest of 345,000 pounds of shucked meats.
Fishing for cod, flounders and other groundfish continues throughout the in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea.
The B season for pollock opened in the Bering Sea on June 10.
In the Central and Western Gulf, starting this year there are now two pollock openers instead of four and fishing will continue there on September 1.
