A summary of preliminary data for commercial fisheries in Upper Cook Inlet published by the State Department of Fish and Game last week says that sockeye salmon runs exceeded predictions. The harvest, however, continued to fall below historical averages “likely influenced by the closure of the East Side Setnet fishery for the entire season.”
The summary says that the value of around 1.9 million harvested salmon was around $14.4 million, well below the historical annual average of $23.2 million. The department estimates that sockeye salmon represented 95% of the value, at $13.7 million. The Upper Cook Inlet sockeye salmon run was forecast as 5.1 million fish, but preliminary counts exceed that total at 6.5 million.
Commercial harvest of king salmon and coho salmon, 732 and around 84,000, respectively, “are the lowest on record for each species,” the summary says.
Upper Cook Inlet drift gillnets, the summary says, fished a total of 29 days across different sections. The drift gillnet harvest in Upper Cook Inlet was 1.37 million sockeye salmon, below the 20-year average of 1.42 million salmon. This year, 356 permits made deliveries, below the historical average of 432 permits, for around 3,800 sockeye per permit.
For more information, or to view the full report, visit adfg.alaska.gov.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
