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Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 4, 2017

Sarah Grace Durrance

Happy 4th of July: Bristol Bay's run explodes like the 'bombs bursting in air' over Fort McHenry in 1812. Monday's catch was a staggering 3.1 million sockeye as the total run pushes to 14 million. Several processors are plugged up, including the Bay's new titan Silver Bay Seafoods. The Nushagak sets a new single day record for the second time this season ... how long will it go?

Catch this program nightly at 6 p.m., 10 p.m., and 2 a.m. on AM 670, and online at KDLG.org. (With early broadcasts Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.)

Bristol Bay's run shifted into fourth gear Monday, counting about 4 million sockeye inshore, with more than 3 million of that as harvest. The total run jumped to 14,000,000. The Nushagak shattered its old record from a week ago as the fleet landed 1.3+ million sockeye, and the Egegik fleet brought in 1.1 million. The Naknek-Kvichak is finally picking up, with a harvest there of 624,000 landed and a big push of Naknek escapement. Several processors are plugged up, including Silver Bay Seafoods who is not planning to buy fish again till after midnight on July 6, according to the fleet office. Is there a fifth gear to this run, which still has about 27 million sockeye to go? Will the Bay's buyers be able to handle it if it comes in compressed, and how long with the Nushagak District run go on? With the latest from Paul Salomone and Tim Sands, plus run analysis with FRI's Dr. Curry Cunningham, on KDLG's Bristol Bay Fisheries Report for July 4.

Credit Tonya O'Connor
When the tided ebbed out, Ekuk set netters found their nets seriously plugged Monday. These fish were picked and put into a large truck with a refrigerated sea water built in.

Catch this program nightly at 6 p.m., 10 p.m., and 2 a.m. on AM 670, and online at KDLG.org. (With early broadcasts Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.)

Letters from home to your friends and family in the Bay this summer? Email us at fish@kdlg.org or dave@kdlg.org, or call 907-842-5281. 

Have feedback, suggestions of something you'd like to hear? ReachAveryLill / Nick Ciolino /Allison Mollenkamp / or Caitlin Tan (in Naknek)

Credit Sarah Grace Durrance
A 4th of July grocery run. At the Dillingham Boat Harbor.

Credit Sarah Grace Durrance

Credit Sarah Grace Durrance