Alaska’s salmon landings have passed the season’s midpoint and by yesterday were approaching 114 million fish. The harvest is 5% above the five-year average to date on a projected total take of 190 million salmon.
Most of the salmon being caught now are pinks with Prince William Sound nearing 34 million humpies, well over the projection of 25 million, and there’s lots of fishing left to go.
Pink salmon catches at Kodiak remained sluggish at under 2.5 million so far; the forecast there calls for over 22 million.
Southeast was seeing a slight uptick with pink catches nearing 13.5 million out of a projected 28 million for this summer.
The statewide pink salmon harvest was nearing 55 million out of a projected 124 million humpies.
© Cameron Karsten for Grundens
The statewide chum harvest remains bleak at about six million with Prince William Sound and the Alaska Peninsula the only regions tracking well for catches. The total take so far is about six million chum salmon out of a projected 15.3 million for the season.
The coho peak is typically in early September and harvests are climbing steadily, but at a pace less than half the five-year average and similar to last year’s poor showing. Just over 600,000 cohos have crossed the docks – or about 14% of the projected catch of 3.8 million silvers.
Alaska sockeye salmon catches of 51.6 million have blown past the forecast by five million reds so far. Over 40 million came from Bristol Bay and more than 6 million from the Alaska Peninsula. Kodiak’s sockeye take has topped two million which is above average.
The statewide Chinook harvest had reached 172,000, or 64% of an expected 269,000 kings.
Our numbers come from the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game and McKinley Research Group compiled for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
