That many fish could cause problems for future runs, with so many mouths to feed in a limited system. Too many fry could result in smaller size due to competition for food, which could lead to a lower ocean survival rate. “There’s always the potential for them to eat themselves out of house and home,” Fox said. The fishery saw an unprecedented amount of fishing time in an attempt to slow down the run, but fishermen had limited success at it.
Asked to summarize this year’s sockeye season, Fox said, “The oddest on record, but fairly strong and very late.” He added, “Typically we have one or two big pulses of fish, where we catch 50-60 percent of the fish for the season. This year they just kept coming steady.” Anecdotal information from fishermen with sonar equipment indicated the fish were deeper in the water than could be reached with the 45-mesh-deep (about 15 feet deep) nets required by regulation. Fox said that deeper nets would probably have been the only thing that could have been done differently to manage the run better. Deeper nets would require action by the Board of Fisheries, which doesn’t take up Cook Inlet proposals again until 2007.
Overall, it was a strong year for sockeye catches, with the central district catch coming in at 5.1 million fish. Fox noted that the playing field seemed more even than previous years. “There wasn’t as much difference between good and bad fishermen this year,” he said. “The catches were a lot more even. No one seemed to have had huge catches, and very few people had a rotten year.”
One reason for the lack of disparity was the unusual amount of fishing time. The setnet and drift fisheries were open in one form or another from 18 to 24 hours per day from June 26 to Aug. 10, giving fishermen plenty of chances to even the score. Prices were strong, with most buyers paying 95 cents per pound for iced fish in brailer bags. One buyer paid as much as $1.15 for at least part of the season. Last year’s sockeye price averaged 75 cents. Aggressive domestic marketing and reports praising the health benefits of wild salmon versus farmed salmon are at least partly responsible for the increase. Seafood Business Magazine published an article this month pointing out the success of the marketing efforts of branding programs such as Kenai Wild for sockeye, Arctic Keta for chums and Star of Kodiak for pinks. The programs say consumers are becoming more “salmon savvy” and are learning to ask for wild salmon over farmed.
Next up for the drift fleet is the coho, or silver, salmon fishery on the west side of Cook Inlet, which is open Mondays and Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for as long as buyers will buy and fishermen will fish. “It’s open forever,” Fox said. There has been minimal effort, with less than 20 boats fishing the first two openings. Fox said that it is expected to be a “reasonably good year.” The areas currently open are a box from the Kalgin Island buoy southwest to the southern boundary line for the inlet, and west to a point above Chinitna Bay, and within one mile of the mean low water mark from the West Foreland to the southern boundary line. Fox noted that Chinitna Bay is not open to the drift fleet at this time, due to low water levels in the creeks and few coho showing up in the bay so far. Prices for coho have been around 60 cents all season and are not expected to change noticeably.
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978, and also has designed and built gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and sablefish, and gillnets salmon in Upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist.
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