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- Created on Wednesday, 01 July 2020 15:23
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The king salmon troll season opened today, with a catch limit about 40,000 higher than in 2019.
“That’s because the preseason abundance is projected to be higher this year,” said Grant Hagerman, Southeast Alaska commercial troll management biologist.
Hagerman said he expects the kings troll opener to last about a week, with an allocation of 83,900 treaty salmon and 1,700 hatchery salmon.
The total Chinook troll limit for this summer is 119,800.
Hagerman noted that while the allowed king salmon catch has risen by nearly 50 percent, abundance has not matched that rate. That’s because the allowed catch is measured on tiers, and this year’s abundance was just enough higher than the 2019 numbers to bump the harvest to the next tier.
“It has gone up a little bit, but it’s gone up enough,” he said.
When taken in context of previous years, Hagerman said, the 2020 forecast is middling.
“The projected level of abundance of king is middle of the line, maybe middle-to-low,” he said.
He said that while the pandemic has not had a tremendous impact on the fishery so far, he has noticed an unusual trend in prices.
Chinook prices were about $12 per pound at the end of the winter troll season. The spring season began with fish selling for only $4 per pound, but the price rose to $7 by the end.
Hagerman said that an increase of price during the season was not common.
“As things start to open up and liberalize a little bit, the markets have come back. We typically see prices drop throughout the year, but not this year,” he said.
He added that summer prices remain uncertain.
He said that presently there are no conservation restrictions for the king troll fleet near Sitka.
“The department is continuing summer troll conservation measures for other areas in the region including Wrangell and Ketchikan,” he said. The current opening is expected to last seven to eight days, he said, and there is the possibility of a second troll opening in August.
July 02, 2020 at 06:30AM
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Chinook Quota Up As Troll Season Starts - Sitka Daily Sentinel
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