Commercial harvesters in Alaska delivered 85.6 million wild salmon to processers through July 21, and the harvest grows daily.
Preliminary harvests calculated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game show that the catch includes 43.5 million sockeyes, 34.6 million humpies, 6.6 million chums, 518,000 silvers and 464,000 Chinook salmon.
Fishermen in Bristol Bay are saying that the market has not yet settled out for sales of salmon, so there has been a conservative approach by processors, who have not yet announced base prices. Traditionally harvesters then also receive a bonus for proper chilling, plus a post-season production bonus.
The largest harvest is in the central region, including Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, with a total of 68.8 million fish.
Deliveries to Bristol Bay processors through July 21 include 33.6 million reds, 601,000 chums, and 53,000 kings. Within Bristol Bay fishermen in the Naknek-Kvichak district alone delivered more than 15 million reds, compared with about 8 million reds in the Egegik district and over 5 million reds each for the Nushgak and Ugashik districts.
The catch in Prince William Sound reached over 33 million fish, the bulk of them accounted for with delivery of nearly 28 million humpies.
Cook Inlet harvesters have delivered 1.4 million salmon, including 965,000 reds, 231,000 pinks and 117,000 chums.
On the Lower Yukon, the summer run of keta salmon rose to a total catch of 354,000 fish, and for Norton Sound, deliveries included 185,000 salmon, the bulk of them chums.
Southeast Alaska fisheries have caught 5.8 million salmon, including 2.6 million pinks and 2.3 million chums, plus 307,000 kings, 219,000 silvers and 201,000 reds.
At Kodiak, processors had 3.3 million salmon, in a catch of nearly 2 million pinks, 972,000 reds, 259,000 chums, 105,000 silvers and 5,000 kings.
For Chignik, the catch to date totals 1.3 million salmon. Processors have received 774,000 reds, 432,000 pinks, 44,000 chums, 40,000 silvers and 8,000 kings.
The Alaska Peninsula has delivered 5.8 million salmon, including 3.3 million fish from the South Peninsula and 2.5 million from the north peninsula, the bulk of them being sockeyes. Their catch included over 4 million reds, 1.3 million pinks, 270,000 chums, 93,000 cohos and 52,000 kings.
The statewide forecast calls for a total harvest of nearly 221 million salmon.
Preliminary harvest totals are published daily online at www.adfg.alaska.gov
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