Impressive numbers for Cook Inlet

The season summary for this year's Upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishery shows some unexpectedly strong results.

• The sockeye run of 12.1 million fish was 74 percent greater than forecast.

• The commercial harvest of 3.7 million sockeye was 60 percent above the 20-year average of 2.3 million.

• At an estimated average price of $1.73 per pound, the total ex-vessel value for the sockeye harvest was $35.8 million.

One more note: The king salmon harvest of 128 fish was the lowest on record.

Bristol Bay's incredible staying power

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released its summary of the 2025 Bristol Bay salmon season, and the numbers are once again impressive.

• This is the 11th year in a row that the total inshore sockeye run exceeded 50 million fish.

• The commercial harvest of 41.2 million sockeye was 18 percent above the preseason forecast.

• Sockeye remained on the small side this season, averaging 5.05 pounds. But that's a big improvement over last season's 4.53 pounds, the smallest average weight on record.

• The sockeye paid a preliminary average ex-vessel price of $1.03 a pound for a total sockeye fishery value of $214.3 million. The average price last year was 89 cents a pound.