Alaska's disappointing salmon season

This year's harvest topped 230 million salmon, far more than last year, but the value took a huge drop due to adverse market conditions, the state reports.

Huge harvest, poor payoff

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Friday posted this summary of the Bristol Bay salmon season. Here are a few key points:

• The sockeye harvest was very large at nearly 40.6 million fish. But fishery value tallied only $116.8 million ex-vessel, roughly 37 percent below the 20-year average.

• The major buyers paid an average base price of 52 cents a pound.

• Average sockeye weight was 5.5 pounds, slightly larger than recent years due to the prevalence of fish with three years of ocean growth.

• The Naknek-Kvichak was tops among fishing districts with a harvest of about 13.2 million sockeye, edging out Egegik with 12.7 million.

How Alaska's salmon season fared

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has posted its summary of the 2022 salmon harvest.

The harvest value was $720.4 million, a nearly 12 percent increase from the prior year, the department reports.

A total of 160.7 million fish were harvested, almost exactly as forecast.

Sockeye was the dominant catch, accounting for two-thirds of harvest value, the department said.

A big hit for Alaska salmon

The value of this year's salmon harvest is down 56 percent from last year, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports. More details here.

Bristol Bay's record-setting season

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has posted a summary of the Bristol Bay salmon season, and the numbers are impressive.

The preliminary ex-vessel value of $306.6 million for all species "ranks first in the history of the fishery," the summary says.

Big catch, disappointing value

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game just posted its summary of the Bristol Bay salmon season.

The harvest of all species (mainly sockeye) was huge at 36.7 million fish, but the ex-vessel value of $94.8 million was 15 percent below the 20-year average.

Huge harvest, paltry payoff

Here's the season summary from the recent Togiak sac roe herring fishery.

The numbers look pretty weird.

The harvest was enormous at 25,136 tons.

The payoff was lousy. At an estimated $50 per ton ex-vessel, the fishery was worth a grand total of $1.26 million.

Last year's grounds price was $150 per ton.

Togiak was like church the Sunday after Easter, with very few boats showing up.

Only 17 purse seiners and 24 gillnetters took part in the fishery, compared with 26 seiners and 37 gillnetters in 2013.

Can the once riotous Togiak herring fishery fall any farther?