Wood, Nushagak and Igushik Rivers Have Met the Escapement Goals

All 3 of the sockeye producing rivers in the Nushagak District area have met or exceeded the established escapement goals.  The Wood River has been over-escaping sockeye salmon since June 29th. Another 37.7-thousand sockeye were counted as escapement on Monday, which pushes the total to over 2.3-million sockeye. That’s over 800-thousand sockeye above the upper end of the escapement goal. The escapement count to the Nushagak River was 12.9-thousand on Monday, which puts the season total up to 512-thousand. That’s well within the escapement goal of 370-thousand to 840-thousand sockeye. The other sockeye producing river in the Nushagak District area is the Igushik River where another 10.3-thousand sockeye were counted on Monday. That pushed the total escapement to over 155.5-thousand. That’s just over the lower end of the escapement goal of between 150-thousand to 300-thousand sockeye. The Nushagak River boasts the largest king salmon run in Bristol Bay and another 293 kings were counted Monday to push the total to over 59.5-thousand. That’s within the escapement goal but is well short of the 95-thousand king salmon management priority. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has responded to all 3 of the salmon producing rivers meeting the escapement goals by allowing continuous fishing by the drift and setnet fleets in the Nushagak District until further notice.