Fish and Game to Manage Setnets, Driftnetters Conservatively in July
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Peninsula Clarion] By Elizabeth Earl - July 5, 2016
Drift fishermen and setnetters in the Central District of Cook Inlet wet their gear for the first time last week, preparing for a large run of sockeye salmon to the Kenai River this year.
The Central District drift fleet got its first green light on June 20, heading out for a regular 12-hour period of fishing, hauling in 1,984 salmon, more than 94 percent of which were sockeye. The number of salmon hauled in increased to more than 3,000 during the next period on June 23, and nearly tripled from that on June 27, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s inseason harvest estimates. The drift boats headed out again for a regular period on Thursday.
Some setnets have been out periodically since May in the Northern District, targeting specifically king salmon in the area of Cook Inlet north of Boulder Point on the east side. The Northern District directed king salmon commercial fishery ended for the 2016 season...
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