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Area M North Peninsula fleet on processor catch limits Tuesday

ADF&G

After big harvests, Peter Pan Seafoods in Port Moller puts limits on sockeye catch. Are they a harbinger of limits in Bristol Bay?

KDLG: Area M's North Peninsula sockeye fishing is going well, so well in fact that a main buyer is having trouble keeping up with the catch.

"There are limits effective today for the one shore-based processor, the largest processor on the North Peninsula," said Bob Murphy, Fish and Game's area management biologist based in Port Moller. "They just went into effect this morning, on our fishery that was announced at 6 o'clock this morning. It's 4,500 pounds for A boats, down to 2,000 for B boats, and then 1,000 pounds for C boats."

The processor is Peter Pan Seafoods at Port Moller. According to the company website, "the plant can process about 250,000 lbs of salmon per day. The product forms include; frozen headed and gutted, fillets, teien (salted fillets) and sujiko (salted salmon eggs)."

Murphy said the North Peninsula Fisheries were closed Sunday evening and took a day off. For the ten days prior, the run had picked up "dramatically."

"The catches have been pretty strong, and that's kind of what instituted limits for the one shore-based processor we have here on the north side. And things are starting to pick up in the [Bristol] Bay, and exporting capacity to King Cove from Port Moller is potentially getting limited."

To date, the North Peninsula fleet has put away just over a million sockeye this season. Murphy said the Ilnik and Sandy Rivers have already achieved their escapement goals, "way ahead of schedule," and Nelson Lagoon and Bear River are on track to meet their goals.

Reach the author at dave@kdlg.org or 907.842.5281.