Alaska’s total commercial salmon harvest this year was extremely low in both quantity and value

The number of Alaskan salmon harvested by commercial fishermen was the third lowest since records began in 1985 for all species, and the value awarded to harvesters when adjusted for inflation was the lowest reported since 1975, state officials said.

Additionally, officials said the total harvest included 450 million pounds of salmon, the lowest amount in history.

Totals are from a preliminary summary. this year’s salmon season It was released Nov. 18 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The ministry reported that only 101.2 million salmon were harvested this year, which is less than half of the 232.2 million salmon harvested last year. The ministry said that the money paid to fishermen for their catch, known as ship exit value, reached 304 million dollars, down from 398 million dollars last year:

Poor results from this year’s salmon harvest are part of many problems Problems in Alaska’s seafood industryan important economic sector in the state.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” said Forrest Bowers, acting director of the department’s Commercial Fisheries Division.

A lower total harvest is expected in some respects, Bowers said.

A smaller return overall is expected for pink salmon, also called humpback salmon, the most abundant and lowest-priced of Alaska’s five salmon species, the preseason forecast said. Pink salmon have a two-year life cycle, he noted, and returns in even-numbered years are generally smaller than returns in odd-numbered years.

The difference between even- and odd-numbered years is just one of many factors state biologists consider when making preseason salmon forecasts. Other factors include past run performance, spawning needs of specific areas, and the successes or challenges experienced by fish in different age groups.

Bowers said this year’s pink salmon return was much weaker than expected, even for an even-numbered year.

According to the ministry, the pink salmon harvest was only 58% of what was expected at the beginning of the season.

Sockeye and Chinook salmon harvests were slightly higher than expected at the beginning of the season, while coho salmon and chum salmon, also known as silver salmon, returned weak pink, with harvests lower than expected. .

The 2024 salmon harvest was 25% lower than the 135.7 million fish projected in the preseason forecast, according to the ministry.

The statewide sockeye salmon harvest has provided some bright spots in a mostly dim state picture.

According to information provided by the ministry, Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, accounted for approximately two-thirds of the total value provided to fishermen this year and 42% of the total harvest. According to the information provided, in most salmon harvesting areas, the most valuable species harvested was salmon prey.

Here’s what this year brought in the Bristol Bay region, home to the world’s biggest sockeye runs: well above expectations Although the amount commercially harvested was slightly below average, it was 7% above the 20-year average. In this region, this year’s average fish size was the smallest on record, part of a long-term trend towards smaller fish sizes for Pacific salmon.

While the numbers “may come as a shock to a lot of people,” the size of Alaska’s 2024 salmon harvest should be kept in perspective, Bowers said.

He stated that large harvests have become common in recent years. He said six of the 10 years with salmon harvests exceeding 200 million fish in Alaska have been since 2013, when commercial fishermen caught a record 280 million salmon.

“We are in a period of relatively high salmon abundance,” he said. “I see 2024 as a bit of an outlier.”

He said there have also been small crop years recently. He said the total commercial salmon harvest in 2016 was only 111 million fish, while the 2018 harvest was 114 million fish. He noted that these were both even-numbered years, meaning years with lower pink salmon runs.

He said he expects improvements next year. Early indications suggest that the total number of fish will be between 150 and 200 million.

Recently released pre-season forecast next year’s Bristol Bay salmon season At least he’s a bit optimistic about the amount of fish. The sockeye run in 2025 is expected to be more than one-third above the long-term average.