marine chinook fishery

[Nerka]

Today on the radio I heard a guide for driftwood charters out of Homer say they took 100 chinook salmon this past week. So I looked up the link and you can see the pictures and read the hype about their operation. I am not picking on them as a business but does it not seem strange that they show pictures of 42 pound king salmon and refer to them as feeder kings from Washington and Oregon.

http://www.driftwoodcharters.com/

I think this fishery needs close examination of just what they are catching. Everyone else is restricted and the marine Homer fishery gets a pass on regulations but the web page here shows maybe they should not.

[MGH55]

Fish & Game have been doing samples for some time. One other charter had 145 in the last two week and none were spawners. So no it is strange to show that you can still catch lots of nice kings from K-bay and lower Cook Inlet. This year I have killed over 100 kings out of Homer and not one has been a spawner. You should come down and do some king fishing, and see it for yourself. This has been the best year I have seen in 20 years. Homer has even had a good return to the fishing hole this year

[smithtb]

Been out with Driftwood - good times - he knows how to catch fish. Unfortunate that they support the anti-commercial quack on the AOJ website though.

ADFG was supposed to be taking genetics from fish caught down there this year - at least that was the talk at the BOF. Anyone know if that is happening?

[willphish4food]

Fish & Game have been doing samples for some time. One other charter had 145 in the last two week and none were spawners. So no it is strange to show that you can still catch lots of nice kings from K-bay and lower Cook Inlet. This year I have killed over 100 kings out of Homer and not one has been a spawner. You should come down and do some king fishing, and see it for yourself. This has been the best year I have seen in 20 years. Homer has even had a good return to the fishing hole this year

I think its important to know for sure; with Anchor river's goal at 3800-10,000 kings, and escapement to date just over 1700, and Kenai and Kasilof runs also low... it seems odd that every king swimming the Inlet to be sport caught is coming from an abundant source in the Pacific Northwest, and not a depleted source locally.

[Cohoangler]

Obviously this charter operator has no idea where these Chinook are coming from since real-time genetic sampling hasn't reached Homer and K-Bay just yet. However, sampling by ADF&G indicates these fish are from many different places, but strangely, none are local. I find that somewhat curious, but I have no information to indicate anything different.

As any business person, the charter operator is trying to attract customers to his business. And he is doing it with an understanding of the restrictions placed on the freshwater fishery, and the concerns of the local folks who depend on salmon that return to Alaska rivers and streams. Can't blame him there. If those fish are indeed from the PNW, the folks down here are happy to share, given the expected large returns this year. But the opposite is also true. When the stocks from the PNW decline, and they will, this fishery needs to be severely restricted for the same reasons that ADF&G is restricting the freshwater salmon fishery on the KP and the Mat-Su, and the Yukon, and lots of other places in the Great Land.

So, will this fishery be restricted in the future if PNW or BC stocks nose-dive? I'm not holding my breath. But as technology improves, and stock identification in real-time becomes feasible, fishery management across State jurisdictions will become both possible and necessary to conserve salmon stocks across their geographic range.

[smithtb]

Obviously this charter operator has no idea where these Chinook are coming from since real-time genetic sampling hasn't reached Homer and K-Bay just yet.

Not what we were led to believe this year at the BOF. Lower peninsula reps proudly announced that funding had been secured and genetic testing would be happening this year. I specifically remember it. Unfortunate if that was untrue cause the money is there and so are the resources.

[Funstastic]

I am more concerned with the Deep Creek King fishery in May. Those are Kenai/Kasilof Kings.

The feeder or "winter" kings of K-Bay not so much. They have a different look (mouth, teeth, etc.) than what we typically see in CI, and the frequent white fleshed King is a tip off that they are headed somewhere else. But we do need to know more, especially when charters are taking them by the hundreds.

[270ti]

I've always wondered about the Homer fishery, and where it stacks up in the treaty etc. Are they counted as treaty fish, or are they counted as AK fish? Given it's good up there, and there is a pile of treaty fish in the ocean, I'd say most of them are treaty fish. What's the limit per angler? Anybody know approx how many kings get caught out of Homer every year?

King fishing has been good in SE. The trollers caught 170k ish in 7 days this year. Lots of kings in the ocean. Lots of clipped fins with no chip. (columbia riv fish)

[fishNphysician]

Thanks for letting a few get by for the Home Team...

[270ti]

FNP,

I hear that it's like the good old days down there.. kings all over the place. Is that true? Seems that plenty are getting by.

[smithtb]

FNP,

I hear that it's like the good old days down there.. kings all over the place. Is that true? Seems that plenty are getting by.

Wait... Are you talking about Homer or Washington?... Ha. Anyone check into the genetic testing that was supposed to take place in Homer this summer?