Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks

The Kamishak District closed to commercial purse seine salmon harvest at 11:59 p.m., Aug. 12, when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game shut those waters until further notice. The department set no reopening date.

"An aerial survey of this district flown on Saturday, August 8 documented fewer than anticipated numbers of pink salmon," the advisory said. Glenn Hollowell, finfish management biologist at the Homer Area Office, issued the announcement Monday afternoon, Aug. 10. No affected Kamishak purse seine operator or industry representative was available for comment.

Kamishak seining targets sockeye returning to Chenik Lake; the department forecast 1,000 pink salmon there this year and measures pink escapement by aerial survey against a district goal of 35,000 to 150,000 fish. It published no count from the Aug. 8 flight.

Southern District purse seine crews have been shut down since 10 p.m. July 31, and the Southern District set gillnet season is scheduled to close Aug. 15. Parts of the Outer District, including the Dogfish Bay, Windy Bay and Nuka Island subdistricts, remain open on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday 16-hour schedule. The Eastern District's Aialik Bay Subdistrict remains open on a 16-hour daily schedule. The Tutka Bay Subdistrict closed to seining July 27 after pink salmon escapement in Southern District index streams fell below targets. Kamishak had been open around the clock, seven days a week, since late July, and has reported a preliminary harvest of roughly 47,000 sockeye salmon this season.

The next Lower Cook Inlet commercial salmon announcement is expected Friday, Aug. 14.