Port Moller Update for Wednesday, June 26

Bad weather impacted Wednesday’s fishing effort as part of the ongoing Port Moller Test Fishery. The test boat just fished stations 6 and 8 due to the weather but things are expected to improve today. That could allow a full day of fishing. Just 76-sockeye were caught Wednesday. 50 sockeye were taken at station 6 and 26-fish were taken a station 8. The interpretation of the data was released Wednesday night. In that interpretation the managers note that all indications are that the run peaked at Port Moller on June 21st. That’s 7-days early and makes this year’s sockeye run through the test fishery area the earliest ever recorded. If you use a travel time of 6-day’s that puts the inshore peak today. That would put the inshore run to Bristol Bay at 9-days early, which is unprecedented. If the travel time is extended out to 11-day’s that puts the inshore peak at around the 2nd of July. Data analyst Scott Raborn writes that historically, early peaks at Port Moller result in longer travel times. Wednesday’s fishing effort increased the cumulative traditional index number up to 1,410. That’s still above the average cumulative traditional index number of 1,084 through June 26th. The updates from the Port Moller Test Fishery are available online on the website of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association at www.bbrsda.com. The Port Moller Test Fishery is currently scheduled to run through July 10th.