It started with the Copper River and now the harvest of Alaska’s wild salmon is growing quickly, as fisheries in the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak , Cook Inlet, the Yukon River, and Bristol Bay start to kick in.
As of June 16, the estimated commercial harvest of 2.366 million fish included 1.3 million sockeyes, 924,000 chum, 87,000 humpies, 33,000 Chinook and 2,000 silvers.
In Prince William Sound alone, harvesters have delivered 1.8 million salmon, including 949,000 reds, 802,000 chums, 21,000 kings, 3,000 humpies and fewer than 1,000 cohos. The bulk of that harvest came from the Copper River drift fleet, which brought in 905,000 reds, 20,000 kings and 12,000 chum salmon, while the Coghill district drifter fleet added some 269,000 chum salmon.
In the Alaska Peninsula, fishermen have delivered 369,000 salmon to processors. The catch included some 200,000 sockeyes, 86,000 chums, 73,000 pink and 10,000 Chinook salmon.
For the Kodiak area, the catch included some 86,000 reds, 11,000 pinks and 10,000 chum salmon. The Cook Inlet harvesters brought in 62,000 reds, 2,000 kings and about 1,000 chum salmon, while on the Lower Yukon River, the harvest of keta salmon reached 19,000 fish. In Bristol Bay, drift gillnetters in the Egegik district have delivered 19,000 sockeyes, and harvests have also begun in the Naknek-Kvichak and Togiak districts.
In Southeast Alaska the harvest totals 6,000 chum and about 1,000 reds so far.
Other areas are yet to begin their harvests.
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