It’s time to announce the very first opening of the troll fishing in summer for King salmon within Southeast Alaska.
The 12 days of the season saw more chinook landings than anticipated, despite fewer boats being in the water.
Southeast Trollers landed about 85,000 kings salmon from July 1 through July 12, putting around 88,000 fish more than the goal for the first opening in the new season.
At first, it could appear that enthusiasm was a factor, but it was not until June 21st, when the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay allowing the fishing industry to operate in any way.
However, that wasn’t the situation. Grant Hagerman manages the troll fishing fleet in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He claims that the trollers were less active this summer than 2022.
“We were able to have 580 participants in the kingfishery in the past,” he explained “and we’re at just more than 500 this year for the opening.”
In the ten year ago Hagerman claims it was usual to see around 800 trollers in the first summer king’s opening ceremony. A drop of 80 boats within a single year suggests the possibility that that the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit brought enough uncertainty for trollers to steer to other fisheries, or into different areas of work.
“Until only a few weeks prior to the fishing season, I believe that a lot of permit holders might have had to come up with other plans,” said Hagerman. “Some of permit holders outside the state might not have had to consider. Evidently, fuel is an issue.”
However, the fishing was quite good in the half-dozen boats that were on the water. Hagerman mentions that three days of rain in the first round meant several busy days in favorable conditions. Much of the work was shaking the kings of a smaller size that were less than the legal limit of 28 inches and trying to make hooks available to catch larger fish.
Hagerman says that trollers will pull their gears and move to another area in the event they’re catching lots of “shakers.” The average weight of a legal fishing was around 11 pounds.
“And surprisingly there are fish that are legal that weigh less than 10 pounds,” Hagerman said. Hagerman. “They’re simply thin and long. There’s a lot of them. However, I wouldn’t say (average mass) has a worryingly high level in comparison to the past However in the long run the trend is down.”
Hagerman states that the prices were in line with the average of summer kings, which ranged from $5 to six dollars per pound. The forces of market that triggered the low prices for the sockeye fisheries of Alaska haven’t been an issue for the kings. The delay in chinook fishing in Canada as well as the shut-down of California’s salmon fishing industry both contributed to boosting prices for Southeast Kingships.
While the opening of the first one exceeded its goal, around 24,000 kings are still in the troll allocations for summer the kings. Hagerman believes that Department of Fish & Game after a thorough accounting of landings in commercial and sport net fisheries, will announce an announcement about a second summer king opener on August 4.
