Alaska Salmon Season Update: Bristol Bay "On the Cusp"
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] By Peggy Parker - July 6, 2016
Nearly two months into the salmon season means speculation about final harvest numbers is at a fever pitch. Already more than 21 million salmon have been landed commercially statewide, 12.85 million of those sockeye.
In Bristol Bay, Bert Lewis says “We are on the cusp. In the next few days we’ll know whether the run is late or lower than the pre-season forecast.”
Lewis is the bay-wide management biologst for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. As of yesterday, Bristol Bay’s catch exceeded 7.9 million salmon, mostly sockeye at 7.5 million. The predicted catch for 2015 in that area is 29.5 million sockeye.
“Last year’s run was the latest on record,” Lewis points out. This year’s run, which has a few similarities to last year, is following the same timing. The main similarity besides the potential timing is the size; with a total run (catch and escapement) forecast of 44.6 million, it’s only ten percent less...
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