Salmon Seasons in Bristol Bay and Southeast Alaska Open Today
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] By Peggy Parker - June 1, 2016
The 2016 Bristol Bay salmon season officially opens today, although the storied sockeye returns do not traditionally peak until July 4. The peak of last year’s run was more than a week late, but in the end, the total run of 58 million fish ranked 2nd out of the last 20 years (1995–2014) and was 70% above the 34.2 million average run for the same period.
This year’s Bristol Bay run is forecast to reach 30 million sockeye with another 2 million returning to the Peninsula rivers.
Southeast Alaska’s troll-caught, hatchery origin chinook fishery also opens today. Hatchery facility managers are predicting total returns of approximately 106,528 chinook salmon for 2016, as compared to estimated 2015 returns of 108,345 fish.
In Bristol Bay, all five districts opened this morning. Beginning in Bristol Bay’s Southeastern Ugashik district and following the shoreline counterclockwise to Togiak, current management rules, season...
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