Deep Inlet reopens to the commercial fleet after the hatchery takes its cut

Deep Inlet, the terminal harvest area south of Sitka, reopens to all common-property commercial salmon fishing at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and stays open through Sept. 20 unless the state changes it. It had been closed to the fleet since late June.

The reason for the closure is a cost-recovery arrangement built into how these hatchery fisheries work. The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, which runs the nearby Medvejie Hatchery, gets first crack at the fish it produces, selling them to cover the cost of producing them, before the area opens to everyone else. NSRAA says it has met its cost-recovery goal for the season, so the fleet gets back in.

Once open, the area is shared among the seine, gillnet and troll fleets on a rotation, each assigned its own days. Parts of Sandy Cove and the area's salmon streams stay closed. Neither the state's announcement nor NSRAA's notice includes comment from a fisherman or a hatchery official.