The Board of Fisheries met this week in Homer on Lower Cook Inlet issues. A meeting summary will be posted here soon. Many of the proposals concerning commercial fisheries pertained to hatchery management. Here's an interesting opinion piece on hatcheries penned by Malcolm Milne and Brian Ritchie, both Homer folks, representing the commercial and charter sectors respectively. 

The next BOF meeting addresses Kodiak finfish and will be held January 9-12 in Kodiak. Comments are due by December 26. The Board will then take up Upper Cook Inlet finfish in Anchorage, February 23-March 6, with comments due by February 8.

In some good news, ADFG's Chignik 2023 salmon season summary shows a harvest of 1.07 million sockeye and 2.16 million pinks. The total fishery value was approximately $5.13 million which is roughly $146,000 for each of the 35 permits fished this season. These are the highest numbers we've seen since 2019. 

ADFG fishery announcements: 

• The Southeast Dungeness crab fishery closed in most areas on November 30. Districts 1 and 2, and Section 13-B will remain open through February 28.
• The current Southeast golden king crab season closes today, December 1, at 11:59 pm.
• The 2024 Southeast Tanner and golden king crab fisheries will both open February 17. The registration deadline for both fisheries is January 18. 
• The 2024 Southeast pink salmon forecast expects an "average" even-year harvest of 19 million fish.

It's that time of year again! If you plan to fish in 2024, don't forget to renew your permits and/or to get 2024 landing cards. This can be done online here. This is particularly timely for anyone participating in January fisheries. Need help? Give us a call or call CFEC at 907-789-6150.