Bristol Bay’s Togiak District will remain exclusive for an extra nine days under a July 24 decision by the state Board of Fisheries.
DILLINGHAM: Participation in the Togiak District will be limited to those who haven't fished any other Bristol Bay district until Aug. 5.
For the past several years, the Togiak District has been limited to fishermen who have not fished any other district in the bay through July 27. Last week, the state Board of Fisheries pushed that deadline back, in hopes that the run there is just late, as it was elsewhere in the bay – and to protect the run if fish don’t show up in larger numbers.
Area Management Biologist Matt Jones told KDLG News on July 27 that building numbers appear to confirm that the run was late – but that the numbers were also helped by reduced fishing time earlier in the season.
Escapement counts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all 10,000 sockeye or more, bringing the season total to 100,000.
“It’s absolutely picking up,” Jones said. “The weekend brought some great news.”
Increasing numbers were the best-case scenario fishermen were hoping for when they submitted their petition. Togiak fishermen petitioned the board to extend the exclusive period based on the low return there so far, and how late the sockeye run was in the rest of the bay. Almost 70 people signed the petition, including both setnetters and drifters.
Frank Logusak, a Togiak resident and fisherman, said he’s caught about 20,000 pounds so far this summer, compared to 70,000 to 100,000 by late July in a normal year.
“A lot of the fishermen in Togiak they never even get out from their debts, they’re still in the hole,” Logusak said.
Togiak fishermen had petitioned the board to extend the period through Aug. 15.
Board member Fritz Johnson, who lives in Dillingham, suggested the Aug. 5 date at Friday's meeting, after Fish and Game managers told the board that other runs to Bristol Bay have been 8-10 days late.
Johnson said the Aug 15 extension may have offered more protection than the exclusive period is meant to, but said some extension was warranted.
“I believe it’ll provide the same protection to the Togiak community and fishery, I think we did the right thing,” Johnson said after the meeting.
The board extended the date from July 24 to July 27 in 2009 to provide some additional protection for fishermen there. The majority of fishers in the Togiak District are residents.
Johnson said he had heard from Togiak fishermen interested in the extension, as well as other fishermen who wanted to be allowed to extend their season there.
The board voted 5-0 in favor of finding an emergency that warranted action, and 5-0 in favor of the Aug. 5 date. Board members John Jensen of Petersburg and Sue Jeffrey of Kodiak fish commercially, and were unable to participate in the meeting.
Fish and Game Area Manager Tim Sands told the board that about 50 drifters had been registered in the district this summer, and typically about 10-15 more join after the district opens up. Last week, processors told Fish and Game that at least two boats were waiting in Togiak, ready to start fishing if it opened on July 27.
KDLG's Dave Bendinger contributed to this story.
