Eshamy set gillnetters won't face 36-hour weekly fishing cap in 2027, state says

Set gillnetters in the Eshamy District will not be held to a 36-hour weekly fishing limit in 2027. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Cordova office reported Thursday that their five-year share of Prince William Sound hatchery salmon value fell to 4.9%, below the 5% line that triggers the cap.

The new figures cover 2021 through 2025. Drift gillnetters took 50.8% of the value, purse seiners 49.2% and set gillnetters 4.9%, results the department said "did not trigger corrective allocation measures."

Set-netters fished under the cap this past season after the prior calculation, released March 18, put their share at 5.3%. Starting July 10, the department gave them less time than drift gillnetters: 24 hours to the drift fleet's 36 in the July 13 opening, and 12 hours to 36 in the Main Bay Subdistrict on July 16.

The share fell because the five-year window dropped 2020, when set-netters took 5.5% of value, and added 2025, when they took 3.7%. The next calculation will drop 2021, when their share was 2.1%, and add the 2026 season.

The department calculates the figures under the Prince William Sound Management and Salmon Enhancement Allocation Plan, which divides the value of salmon produced by the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation among three commercial gear groups. Set gillnetters are allocated 4%.

Purse seiners keep exclusive access to the Port Chalmers Subdistrict in 2027. Under the plan, drift gillnetters get that area from June 1 through July 30 only when their share falls to 45% or less. They were at 43.9% in the calculation covering 2019 through 2023 and fished Port Chalmers in 2025.