Salmon notes

Lots of salmon fisheries are open around Alaska, but the statewide catch remains modest at this point.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports about 2.9 million fish have been taken so far, on a preseason forecast of 179 million.

Here are a few notes on the young season:

• Southeast trollers have landed 11,847 Chinook, which trails last year's catch by 27 percent for this date. The bright side: Prices are very strong at an average of $6.91 per pound, and average fish weight is up by half a pound to 13.3 pounds.

• At the Copper River, gillnetters finally got a couple of openers last week, after enduring a 13-day closure to allow inriver passage to improve. The sockeye harvest stands at an excellent 843,000 fish, and the district will open again at 7 a.m. Monday for a 36-hour period.

• At Chignik, on the Alaska Peninsula, early reports indicate the number of permits fishing this season will be the highest since 2005. Chignik has a significant sockeye run.

• Early season catches have been characteristically low at Bristol Bay, scene of the world's largest sockeye fishery. We likely won't see the action heat up there until early July. Managers on Friday allowed a five-hour fishery targeting Chinook in the Nushagak District.

• The Yukon River Chinook run is expected to be weak again this year, so no commercial fishery targeting those wonderful kings is expected.