Landings in Bristol Bay, Alaska – home of the world’s largest sockeye salmon run – topped 26 million fish over the weekend and continued to show signs of strength, with test fishing indicating the run is far from over.
According to the most recent daily report from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), the total run sat at over 45 million fish, mostly sockeye, as of Saturday, 10 July. The fleet registered a very strong harvest of 1.6 million fish on Saturday and ongoing test fishing indicates that the run will sustain for at least several more days.
In an email on Sunday, 11 July, Michael Link, the executive director of the Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute, said the test fishery had registered its second-highest catch this season. Link said the mean index for much of the test fishery remained strong, with volumes close to the peak of the run. Test fish typically hit the nets in the fishery about four to six days after they are caught in the test fishery, which has several stations at the entrance to Bristol Bay. Link said the most recent test fishery numbers are “quite something” for this late in the season, and they indicate that Bristol Bay could outstrip ADFG’s preseason forecast of 36 million fish harvested on a 51 million fish run.
The season has already seen unprecedented daily catches. The Nushagak District, one of four main river systems in the fishery, smashed its single-day record catch on 30 June, when fishermen pulled in 1.77 million fish. Two days later, on 1 July, that record fell again with a catch of 1.82 million fish. The previous record harvest for the Nushagak District in a day was one million fish, set in July of 2017. Record catches were coupled with nasty weather, complicating fishing on the grounds. A fisherman was lost on 1 July after his heavily loaded boat capsized.
On 10 July, the University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) had upgraded their run prediction from a preseason forecast of 50.9 million to 54.5 million fish, while downgrading their harvest prediction from 36.9 million fish to 34.9 million fish. FRI cited lower-than-anticipated harvest rates for their projected drop in harvest.
Photo courtesy of Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association
