ADF&G extends drift gillnet fishing a day in Section 1-B and District 15

Drift gillnetters in Section 1-B near Ketchikan and in District 15 near Haines have an extra 24 hours on the water this week, under two emergency orders from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Section 1-B and Section 15-C close at noon Friday, Aug. 14. Section 15-A closes at noon Thursday, Aug. 13, a day later than originally scheduled.

The extensions come with listed area closures. In Section 1-B, the Pearse and Portland canals are closed north of the latitude of Akeku Point at 54 degrees 50.03 minutes north. In District 15, Chilkat Inlet is closed north of the northernmost tip of Kochu Island at 59 degrees 09.04 minutes north. Lutak Inlet is closed north of a line running from White Rock at 59 degrees 18.05 minutes north, 135 degrees 31.33 minutes west, to a point at 59 degrees 18.73 minutes north, 135 degrees 30.16 minutes west. William Henry Bay is closed south of 58 degrees 42.93 minutes north.

The Boat Harbor Terminal Harvest Area in Section 15-C stays open until further notice. That area covers waters within 2.0 nautical miles of the western shoreline of Lynn Canal, south of the latitude of Lance Point at 58 degrees 43.95 minutes north and north of a regulatory marker at 58 degrees 36.96 minutes north, plus waters of Boat Harbor west of 135 degrees 09.57 minutes west.

Haines area management biologist Nicole Zeiser issued the District 15 announcement Aug. 11 under Emergency Order 1S5826. Section 15-C runs through Friday.

The Section 1-B extension is not discretionary. It follows the District 1 Pink Salmon Management Plan, 5 AAC 33.360, which links drift gillnet time to how long the purse seine fleet fishes. "The District 1 purse seine fleet will fish at least three days in statistical week 33, therefore the Section 1-B drift gillnet fishery will receive one additional day of fishing time," Ketchikan assistant area management biologist Justin Breese said in the Aug. 12 announcement, which carries Emergency Order 1S6026.

The season behind these orders has been uneven. An earlier Alaska News article on Southeast pink salmon noted that Point Gardner and Kingsmill test fisheries recorded harvests a fraction of their 10-year averages through July 19. ADF&G's Aug. 6 drift gillnet announcement put the Hugh Smith Lake sockeye count at 6,649 fish, projecting 15,200 against an optimal goal range of 8,000 to 18,000. In 2024, the region's drift gillnet fleet took 4.5 million salmon in common property fisheries.

Both documents are agency announcements. Neither contains comment from the gillnet or seine fleets on the week's allocation, and no current reaction from the affected fleets or their representatives was available.