Eshamy District stays closed as sockeye run behind target

A rule capping Prince William Sound set gillnetters at 36 hours a week in the Eshamy District took effect July 10. The district has been closed all season, so there has been nothing to cap.

Fish and Game said Wednesday the closure stays, and is being extended to push more sockeye upstream to spawn. The weir counting fish into the system had passed 10,307 sockeye through Aug. 25, up from 5,344 five days earlier, against a target of 10,736 to 23,125 for that date.

The cap came out of a formula rather than a vote. The state's allocation plan targets set gillnetters at 4 percent of the five-year average value of hatchery fish produced by the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Association, and caps their time when their share tops 5 percent. Department figures from March put the gear group's 2020-2024 average at 5.3 percent.

Drift gillnet and purse seine split the rest, roughly 48.8 and 51.2 percent.