Processing capacity will be more than adequate to support Alaska’s largest salmon fishery this season, according to a report the Alaska Department of Fish & Game released late last week.
Responding to an ADF&G survey, 13 Bristol Bay salmon processors said they are prepared to handle a total of 30.7 million sockeye this season, 6.8 million fish more than the projected harvest, or 1.8 million fish per day.
ADF&G is calling for a 2009 Bristol Bay sockeye catch of 23.9 million fish, which would be up 7 percent from the 10-year average and the 21st largest harvest since 1983.
A total of 15 processors, representing almost 98 percent of 2008 Bristol Bay sockeye landings, were asked to participate in the survey; of the two that declined to respond, one is unsure whether it will operate this season, while the other will not operate.
