The statewide catch of wild salmon in Alaska topped 122.6 million fish through Aug. 2, including 49.5 million sockeye salmon, 37.6 million of which were caught in Bristol Bay. Processors were offering a base price of one dollar, up from 75 cents last year and 50 cents from 2015. For chilled salmon, which comprise about 60 percent of the Bristol Bay catch, the base price was $1.20.
Also processed to date were 44.2 million humpies, 17 million chum, 1.4 million silver and 234,000 kings.
The Prince William Sound harvest, as of the first week of August, stood at 28 million fish, including nearly 22 million pink, 5 million chum, 1.3 million red, 13,000 king and 12,000 silver salmon. On the Lower Yukon, the keta salmon harvest has grown to 554,000 fish and on the Upper Yukon another 158,000 chum have been delivered to processors.
In the Westward region, harvesters in the Alaska Peninsula have caught more than 14 million salmon. Their catch includes 6.5 million red, 6 million pink, 1.5 million chum, 195,000 coho and 9,000 Chinooks. At Kodiak, the harvest delivered to processors reached 8 million salmon, including 5.3 million pink, 1.4 million red, 1.3 million chum, 62,000 coho and 5,000 kings.
Cook Inlet’s total catch to date is 2.4 million fish. Processors have received 1.7 million sockeye, 351,000 pink, 274,000 chum, 45,000 coho and 7,000 kings.
!0th & M Seafoods in Anchorage had Alaska king salmon fillets ready for the freezer at $22.95 a pound, and Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market was offering fresh wild Alaskan sockeye fillets for $19.99 a pound. Fred Meyer stores in Alaska had fresh whole wild Alaska sockeyes for $5.99 a pound.
