The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has reported a below-average commercial salmon season in Prince William Sound (PWS), despite forecasting a strong season.
"The 2026 season had the lowest pink salmon harvest since the late 1970’s when PWS hatcheries were established," ADF&G said in a release.
Commercial fishers harvested just 2.6 million pink salmon in 2026, 81 percent less than the 13.3 million forecasted. Of those, 1.7 million originated from Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (PWSAC) hatcheries, 73,000 originated from Valdez Fisheries Development Association (VFDA) hatcheries, and just 819,000 were wild fish.
Including hatchery cost recovery and broodstock fish, the PWS Area salmon harvest was 7.7 million fish total. Of that, pink salmon comprised 5.4 million, chum salmon comprised 1.1 million, sockeye salmon comprised 763,000, Chinook salmon comprised 4,760, and coho salmon comprised 406,000. Roughly 57 percent of that total was commercially harvested, while the remaining 43 percent went to hatchery cost recovery and broodstock fish.
ADF&G estimated the value of the total salmon harvest at approximately USD 49.6 million (EUR 44.9 million), which is 45 percent less than the 10-year average of USD 90.6 million (EUR 82 million). During the 2026 season, ADF&G reported that 382 drift gillnet, 24 set gillnet, and 176 purse seine commercial permit holders fished.
In 2025, PWS reported a near-average commercial salmon season with an exceeding chum salmon catch and a lower-than-expected pink salmon catch.
In 2026, drift gillnet ex-vessel harvest values reached an estimated USD 17.9 million (EUR 16.2 million) and the set gillnet ex-vessel harvest value was an estimated USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.2 million). Purse seine ex-vessel harvest values reached an estimated USD 13 million (EUR 11.8 million) and hatchery operations totaled an approximate USD 16.2 million (EUR 14.7 million) in revenue.
In the Copper River, sockeye salmon total run equaled 1.46 million, resulting in a commercial harvest of 248,000 sockeye, 66 percent less than the 10-year average. In the Bering River District, commercially harvested coho salmon were 11 percent above the previous 10-year harvest average at 60,000 fish. In the Coghill District, ADF&G reported below average harvests of sockeye, chum, and coho salmon due to conservative fishery management limiting catch and low fleet participation. In the Eshamy District, ADF&G said sockeye salmon runs were weak, with numbers falling well below the 10-year averages.
For the purse seine fisheries, chum salmon runs fell 48 percent below the preseason forecast of 3.62 million fish – with 1.53 million to be harvested commercially. However, PWS reported a total commercial harvest of just 797,000 fish, 48 percent below the forecast.
