Alaska authorities are maintaining their high predictions for salmon runs as the date for the opening date for Copper River fast approaches.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is expected to announce the actual opening date on May 5, with a tentative scheduled opening date of May 14. Predictions remain unusually high, with the 2015 sockeye salmon catch expected to be more than 2.2 million fish, the fifth highest ever recorded. The king salmon catch is expected to hit 6,000 fish.
The Copper River is in south central Alaska, where sockeye average 6 to 7 pounds and king salmon average 20 to 30 pounds.
