Salmon notes

Here are a few observations from the middle of the salmon season.

• The statewide, all-species catch now stands in excess of 145 million fish. Ongoing pink salmon fisheries appear capable of powering us past the preseason forecast of 189.5 million.

• Trident Seafoods, in a fleet letter dated Aug. 5, reported grim conditions in the salmon markets, including "a sharp decrease in wholesale prices across all species." The Seattle-based processing giant said chum markets had "collapsed," and that the company would stop buying salmon in most areas on or about Sept. 1. Trident further said Russia, with a huge pink salmon harvest this year, had "shown a willingness to offload inventory at very low prices in part to fund the war in Ukraine." Trident added: "We haven't seen a collapse in value like this since the 1990s when pinks went well under 10 cents a pound."

• Have state fish cops confirmed the long-suspected practice of "chum chucking" in Area M? Here's an Alaska Beacon article exploring the issue. And here's a press release from the Area M Seiners Association.

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.

Salmon notes

The Alaska salmon season is entering the homestretch.

• The statewide commercial harvest has reached 150 million fish. This year's preseason forecast of 160.6 million appears within reach.

• The sockeye harvest stands at 74 million, right on forecast.

• The pink salmon harvest stands at 63.2 million, only 4 million shy of forecast.

• NOAA Fisheries has posted an interesting article, What's Behind Chinook and Chum Salmon Declines in Alaska?

Salmon notes

Here are a few items of interest from Alaska's commercial salmon season thus far.

• The statewide, all-species salmon catch stands at 73.5 million fish. Of these, 38.4 million are sockeyes and 27.8 million are pinks. The season forecast calls for a statewide harvest of 221 million salmon.

• Just like that, the Southeast Alaska summer troll Chinook salmon season is over. The Department of Fish and Game says the fleet caught the full 150,000-fish allocation during the eight-day opener that began July 1. Managers say 729 troll vessels made landings, and catch rates were "very good."

• The Prince William Sound pink salmon seine harvest through July 16 is estimated at 22.4 million fish, including pinks taken for cost recovery at the Valdez hatchery. "This is a record cumulative total for the date," the department says.

Salmon notes

Here are a few highlights from Alaska's young salmon season.

• The action is starting to pick up at Bristol Bay, where gillnetters had landed 2.6 million sockeye through Monday. The season forecast calls for a bumper harvest of 37.6 million fish, so we could see the bay explode in the next few days as the fishery peaks. Track the daily catch here.

• In Southeast Alaska, the chum salmon return to the Hidden Falls Hatchery has been a huge disappointment.

• At the Copper River, gillnetters have caught just over 1.2 million sockeye and 22,492 Chinook. The preseason forecast called for 2.24 million sockeye and 6,000 Chinook.

• At Chignik, it appears about 50 seine permit holders are taking part in the fishery, down a bit.

• On the Lower Yukon River, chum fishermen are again restricted to dipnets and beach seines instead of gillnets. This allows for the safe release of scarce Chinook.

• Way up north at Kotzebue, commercial salmon fishing is expected to open July 10. At this point, however, the area has only one confirmed buyer compared to three last year.