Some 51.28 million sockeye salmon are expected to return to Bristol Bay in 2018, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) has forecasted. Such a run would be 18 percent greater than the region’s most recent 10-year average and 41 percent more than the long-term mean of 33.78 million fish.
The expected sockeye run would allow for a potential total harvest of 39.08 million fish, comprising 37.59 million in Bristol Bay and 1.49 million in the South Peninsula fisheries. A Bristol Bay harvest of this size is 35 percent higher than the most recent 10-year harvest of 28.91 million which has ranged from 15.43 million to 38.81 million, and is 87 percent greater than the long-term harvest average of 20.85 million fish (1963 to present).
Each district and river system forecast is as follows: 16.64 million to Naknek-Kvichak District (8.36 million to the Kvichak River, 4.41 million to the Alagnak River and 3.87 million to the Naknek River); 9.12 million to the Egegik District; 2.87 million to the Ugashik District; 21.79 million to the Nushagak District (12.31 million to the Wood River, 7.36 million to the Nushagak River and 2.13 million to the Igushik River); and 0.86 million to the Togiak District.
This year’s run of 56.5 million sockeye ranked the second highest from the last 20 years. It was 62 percent above the 34.9 million average run, while the commercial harvest of 37.7 million sockeye was 37 percent above the 27.5 million pre-season forecast.
The 2017 Bristol Bay harvest of all salmon species was 39.8 million fish with an ex-vessel value of USD 214.6 million (EUR 182.2 million), which was almost double the 20-year average of USD 108.9 million (EUR 92.5 million).
