Section 11-B drift fleet gets another day, and no mesh size limit

Section 11-B drift gillnetters south of Circle Point get 24 more hours: the period now closes at noon Wednesday, Aug. 19, not noon Tuesday. North of Circle Point also runs to noon Wednesday. There is no mesh size restriction in Section 11-B, a change from the 6-inch minimum that applied south of Circle Point in July.

Limestone Inlet stays closed east of the outside markers. At 12:01 p.m. Tuesday the Port Snettisham closure moves from the Point Styleman line to one from Sharp Point to Sentinel Point.

Region I coordinator Troy Thynes set the week's openings Aug. 13; Juneau biologist Scott Forbes extended the south side Monday under Emergency Order 1S6326. Speel Lake sockeye escapement is three-quarters of its goal range's bottom, and the department says a further extension into the Speel Arm terminal harvest area could come with six hours' notice.

This account comes solely from the department's notices; no fisherman or advocate is quoted.