ata
2012-07-08 23:43:26
The troll king salmon fishery will close Monday July 9th at 11:59pm (midnight). ADFG's official announcement can be found here:
If you are not already participating in the call-in program, please consider doing so. You can contact the ATA office for detail (586-9400)s, or better yet, write me at
The call-in program has been important in many years, including this one, for getting additional fishing days. By sharing real time information from across the region with ADFG, our managers have a much better chance of knowing what's going on out there. This is especially important when they are managing a quota, like kings, or evaluating coho abundance for conservation closures or fishery extensions. ATA works closely with ADFG to protect salmon populations, while also securing the maximum number of days for the fleet to fish.
Call-in information is only shared with ADFG (who has your fish tickets anyway). We do not share with other fishermen or the public. TOTALLY confidential. I've run the program over 20 years and many of the highline fishermen calling in have been doing so since the beginning, so hopefully that's your clue that we know how to keep a secret. Heck, I don't even tell my own skipper, which bums him out, til I remind him that I'd also have to share his info with the others - fair's fair. He always drops the subject.=)
Fishermen call in every day, or when they can, and tell us where they are, how many boats in the area, and the number of kings and coho each day (or for the trip if you can't call regular). I tend to pick your brain for other information...hours fished, what they're eating, how much feed on your screen, size of fish, water temps, and any other curious/interesting fish facts, but you only tell me what you have time and inclination to share. The more who call in the better, that way, when you can't, then hopefully someone else in your area helps to fills that day's void.
There are several VERY IMPORTANT call- in times: 1) July and August king openings - 2) the week before July 25 conservation decision - 3) early August (pre- Aug closure) - and, 4) mid-late September (extension assessment).
We also encourage folks to team up to call-in scores, say if they are out of cell range and one boat has a sat phone and his buddies do not.
Finally, this is REAL important for freezer boats, since you are out for so long and there is no other way to know what you have onboard. A few good freezer deliveries have been known to shut down the fishery fast, so the call-in helps ADFG with their decisions, and hopefully the fleet gets a longer notification and can plan better (e.g. trying to make sure you don't get stuck with $200 in fresh ice just to hear it's closing in 12 hrs!).
Always feel free to contact ATA about the fishery or other fish related issues.
Have a good season - and keep safe out there!
Dale
ATA