Lower commercial harvest predicted for Lower Cook Inlet

Commercial salmon fishermen in Lower Cook Inlet can expect about a quarter of 2015’s harvest in 2016, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s projection.

The Lower Cook Inlet Salmon Fishery Outlook, published Friday, includes both wild runs and returns from the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association’s hatchery projects in the area. The total commercial common property harvest is expected to be 548,000 fish, 10 percent of which will be hatchery fish, according to the projection.

Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association operates several hatcheries in the area for pink and sockeye salmon. The association expects a return of 300,700 hatchery sockeye and 429,500 hatchery pink salmon, a total value of about $2.7 million, excluding broodstock, according to the outlook.

Of that, $2.2 million worth of returned hatchery salmon will be harvested by the association for cost recovery, with the remainder available as commercial common property fish, according to the outlook.

Although the 2016 returns are lower than the 2015 returns, they are in line with the 5-year averages, according to the release. The Kamishak Bay District and the Outer District, both areas of the purse seine fishery, are expected to have harvestable pink salmon surpluses: 194,000 for the Outer District and 83,000 in the Kamishak Bay District.

The Southern District, the area for set gillnets in Lower Cook Inlet, will open June 2 for a 48-hour period. The pink salmon harvest is estimated at 47,000 fish for the district, according to the outlook.

The 2016 return follows a recent pattern for pink salmon returns, said Glenn Hollowell, the area finfish management biologist in the Homer Fish and Game office. The harvest in 2013 broke a record, and the 2015 harvest of 6.5 million fish broke the record again, he said.

“We are on a cycle of having an odd-year pink salmon returns,” Hollowell said. “Pink salmon are on a two-year cycle. Other species of salmon come back mixed. We’ve been having really big odd year returns in pink salmon.”

Pink salmon are on a two-year cycle — the 2017 run is expected to be similarly large, while the 2016 run is closer to average, he said. Better survivability for the pink salmon may contribute, he said.

About 2 million of the pink salmon harvested last year were in the Tutka Bay Lagoon Hatchery. The Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association originally operated the facility there from 1993–2004, but low fish prices drove it to close. The association reopened it around 2010, and 2011 was the first year it was able to collect enough eggs to get a hatchery program going, said Gary Fandrei, the executive director of Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association.

Most of the cost recovery for Cook Inlet Aquaculture has traditionally come from the sockeye returning to the Trail Lakes Hatchery through Resurrection Bay. However, the runs can be unpredictable, and Fandrei said the association is moving toward diversifying its stock for cost recovery.

“Salmon are notoriously fickle,” Fandrei said. “We’re emphasizing sockeye right now in our cost recovery, but the idea is to switch that over to the pinks.”

Last year, the sockeye returns to Resurrection Bay were less than the association expected but the pink returns to Tutka Bay and Port Graham helped recover some of the costs. Both facilities are currently operating below their capacity, and the association is working on improvements to the facilities and growth of broodstock to get them operating to their full capacity, Fandrei said. The goal is to get an average yearly return of 3.5 million pink salmon to those systems, which is fairly normal for pink hatchery operations in the state, he said.

“One of the things people tend to miss is that you don’t just turn (a facility) on and get all the eggs you need the very first generation,” Fandrei said. “You have to build your broodstock and operate your facility the first couple of generations of fish.”

Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) speaks to reporters about his decision to veto an education funding bill at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy’s veto of education funding bill puts pressure on lawmakers during final month of session

Governor also previews new bill with $560 BSA increase, plus additional funds for policy initiatives.

Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly kills resolution asking for option to cap property tax increases

Alaska municipalities are required by state statute to assess all properties at their full and true value.

City of Kenai Public Works Director Scott Curtain; City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel; Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche; Sen. Lisa Murkowski; Col. Jeffrey Palazzini; Elaina Spraker; Adam Trombley; and Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank cut the ribbon to celebrate the start of work on the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai bluff stabilization info meeting rescheduled for April 30

Originally, the event was scheduled for the same time as the Caring for the Kenai final presentations.

Project stakeholders cut a ribbon at the Nikiski Shelter of Hope on Friday, May 20, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Peninsula organizations awarded mental health trust grants

Three organizations, in Seldovia, Seward and Soldotna, recently received funding from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

Chickens are seen inside of a chicken house at Diamond M Ranch on Thursday, April 1, 2021, off Kalifornsky Beach Road near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council hears call to lessen chicken restrictions

The Soldotna City Council this month heard from people calling for a… Continue reading

Mount Spurr, raised to Advisory on the Volcano Alert Level, can be seen in yellow northwest of the Kenai Peninsula. (Map courtesy Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Department of the Interior)
Spurr activity ‘declined slightly’

If an eruption were to occur, there would be noticeable indicators that may provide days to weeks of additional warning.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivers a borough update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Micciche pushes mill rate decrease, presses state to boost education funding

Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivered an update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday.

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
SPITwSPOTS employees speak to an attendee of the Kenai Peninsula Job and Career Fair in Kenai on Wednesday.
Job fair gathers together employers, job seekers

“That face-to-face has kind of been missing for a lot of people.”

A poster in the Native and Rural Student Center at the University of Alaska Southeast reads “Alaska is diverse, and so are our educators.” (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
University of Alaska holds virtual town hall to address fear and stress in changing federal landscape

Students, faculty and staff ask about protecting international students, Alaska Native programs.

Most Read