In Bristol Bay’s Egegik district, it’s not uncommon to see some boats fishing in areas of the fishery deemed illegal by the state. But this year seemed particularly bad, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Aaron Tiernan, a biologist with the department, said widespread reports of illegal fishing beyond the legal areas of Egegik Bay and the waters just outside it led him to prematurely shut down this year’s fishery.
“We were receiving daily phone calls between Fish and Game and wildlife troopers, you know, multiple boats upwards of 50 at times fishing outside of the district,” Tiernan said.
Tiernan said that during the peak of the season, extra Alaska Wildlife Troopers flood Bristol Bay from around the state. It’s a big effort. But as fishing winds down, they start leaving to patrol other areas.
“More and more reports come in. Because there’s less enforcement going on overall, and we need to try to protect stocks that are going north and south or even into Egegik,” Tiernan said.
So, in response, he decided to shut the fishery down.
“Efforts that have been made in the past have not changed activities. So I felt like it was time to try something new,” Tiernan said.
Tiernen issued an emergency closure using a regulation that essentially allows the department to put the fleet in a time-out for bad behavior. That regulation has been on the books for more than three decades. But Tiernan thinks this is the first time it’s been used in Bristol Bay. He says the move was important to help protect fish.
“The district lines where they’re drawn now are there for specific reasons,” Tiernan said.
Fishing over the line often means intercepting salmon headed for other districts. And it means fewer Egegik fish make it up river.
“Egegik River and the Naknek River have not had fantastic returns this year. Their escapements are in the lower half of the escapement goal ranges … we still need to do what we can to let fish get to where they need to go,” Tiernan said.
But some fishermen would prefer to get rid of district lines entirely and proposed that to the state Board of Fish at their last meeting. Tiernan says Bristol Bay’s fishery was designed for each river to be fished separately, so the Board of Fish shot down that suggestion.
The closure will impact different groups of fishermen differently. Some boats appear to have transferred to the Togiak district for the weekend. The Egegik district technically re-opened Monday morning at 9 a.m. But so close to the end of the season, many crews decided to stop fishing.
Matthew Johnson has fished in Egegik for years. He decided to head home early.
“My ticket home is for August 3rd, and we were planning on staying out until about the 30th. So, yeah, I mean, that’s just, you know, money out of everyone’s pocket on a pretty lean year. So it’s, it’s very unfortunate,” Johnson said.
Johnson says for an entire ebb tide, there were boats going up to half a mile into illegal waters. He thinks more enforcement from troopers could have helped.
“For whatever reason, we’re not having any flybys or any enforcement. And people just kept pushing things further and further and further,” Johnson said.
Troopers say they are still doing aerial flybys with planes and helicopters and are using GPS to spot boats over the line. But they did not confirm specific patrols for last week. There was one citation reported July 22 for fishing over the line in Egegik, but none since.
Johnson runs a popular Facebook page called Bristol Bay Alaska Jobs Rumors and BS. He says negative comments in that group about fishermen who reported illegal fishing may have contributed to the emergency closure.
“I think Starlink and the social media landscape has made it so like, there just aren’t secrets in Bristol Bay anymore,” Johnson said.
Some fishermen received threats online for supporting the closure.
Bill, who didn’t want to give his last name, is another longtime Egegik drift fisherman. He estimates that he probably missed out on $12,000 in lost fish this weekend. He also suspects the closure will hurt canneries. But, he says, illegal fishing isn’t good either.
“It hurts the whole fishery,” Bill said.
Bill says overall, he thinks the closure was a good thing.
“So you’re taking that $12,000 hit with this closure. Do you still think that the closure is overall a good idea given the reality this season?”
“Yep, I do, because maybe these guys will go home!” Bill said.
Bill says most boats do play by the rules. He says illegal fishing hurts both other drifters and set netters.
Bill hoped to see larger fines for violations and wondered if troopers could try patrolling with drones. Troopers said that legally, drones are not currently an option for enforcement.
Bill also suggested that instead of closing the district entirely, managers should have the option to move the line closer to shore, where sandbars could help block bad behavior.
