The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission reported that although the preliminary results of the total salmon catch in the North Pacific last year was near an all-time high, there were notably low catches for chum salmon and low total catch in Washington, Oregon, California, and Canada.
Last year, NPAFC’s member countries Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States collectively brought in a total of 968.7 thousand metric tons (MT) of salmon. That amounted to approximately 563.3 million fish.
Of the total catch, 51 percent was harvested by Russia (499.2 thousand MT), 42 percent by the United States (406.9 thousand MT), 6 percent by Japan (59.5 thousand MT), and less than 1 percent by both Canada and Korea (2.9 thousand MT and 130 MT, respectively).
Pink salmon made up the majority of the weight of the catch at 54 percent, trailed by chum salmon, which comprised 24 percent of the catch; sockeye salmon, which made up 19 percent of the catch; coho salmon, which made up 2 percent of the catch; and chinook, cherry, and steelhead trout, which each made up less than 1 percent of the catch.
Although pink salmon catches have increased over the past two years, the chum harvest has decreased since 2015. In 2019, the chum harvest was 168,400 MT, as opposed to a 10-year average of 236,000 MT. Japan’s catch of 55,900 MT of chum was the lowest in the country since 1970. Canada’s minute catch of chum, sockeye, and pink salmon – at just 2,973 MT – was its lowest recorded since the NPAFC database began tracking catches in 1925. Washington, Oregon, and California also saw a particularly lean season with only 4,965 MT of salmon caught, the lowest total on record in the database as well.
The report noted that hatchery releases remained stable and have released around 5 billion fish every year since 1993.
Photo courtesy of Christina Dutkowski/Shutterstock
