A salmon update

The statewide commercial catch of salmon, all species, now stands at 171.4 million fish, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported today.

The tally grew by close to 11 million fish in the past week.

We're in September now, however, so we probably can't expect many more big catches as the season draws to a close.

As Deckboss observed last week, the preseason harvest forecast of 203 million fish is out of reach. Just not enough pink salmon showed up to achieve such a lofty total.

Still, the industry already has surpassed last year's total of 171.2 million salmon.

With strong prices around the state for sockeye and pinks, I'm guessing the 2010 harvest value of $534 million dockside also will be topped.