By Sentinel Staff
The summer king salmon troll fishery closed late Thursday as the fleet neared its harvest target.
The Department of Fish and Game announced Thursday morning that the fishery would close at 11:59 p.m. that day because the trollers were close to their allowed harvest of 83,500 treaty kings.
Fishermen must now offload their kings and submit fish tickets.
“All Chinook (king) salmon must be offloaded from a salmon troll vessel following a Chinook salmon closure and prior to resuming fishing operations for other salmon species. All processors and trollers are required to submit fish tickets to the department within seven days of landing,” Fish and Game said in a press release.
However, a number of terminal harvest areas will remain open to king salmon fishing by all gear groups, the department said. These areas include Herring Bay, Silver Bay, Anita Bay, and Deep Inlet, though specific regulations and opening dates vary between the areas.
Terminal harvest areas at Crawfish Inlet, Hidden Falls, Southeast Cove, Thomas Bay, Nakat Inlet, and Kendrick Bay are closed to king retention when the general summer king season is closed.
Areas of particularly high king salmon abundance also are closed for the remainder of the season. Near Sitka, these include the southern and western shores of Kruzof Island between Shoals Point and Cape Georgiana, and along the west shore of Baranof Island between Point Lauder and Redfish Cape.
