Salmon notes

Here are a few interesting observations from the salmon season thus far.

• The statewide commercial salmon catch just clicked over 100 million fish. We still have a long way to go to reach the preseason forecast of more than 189 million. But it's certainly possible as the high-volume pink salmon fisheries start to kick in.

• It appears the Southeast Alaska pink salmon run is "much higher than forecasted," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports. Effort is down this season with an estimated 180 purse seine boats fishing compared to 194 last year and 208 in 2021.

• The Bristol Bay sockeye fishery is all but done, and it's another strong catch this year of nearly 39 million fish, well over the preseason forecast of 36.7 million. Fishermen are unhappy, however, as processors are paying 50 cents per pound, a huge drop from last season.

• The nearly 12 million sockeye taken in Bristol Bay's Nushagak District ranks as the sixth-largest harvest since 1893.

• In Area M, the Alaska State Troopers have charged several cases of "salmon chucking," or the unlawful discarding of fish. Details on these cases can be found on our sister blog The Brig.

• Copper River driftnetters have tallied a decent 842,000 sockeye this season.

• Chignik has produced 668,000 sockeye.