Sockeye Catch Low, With Hope for Future Salmon Runs

Sockeye salmon. Flickr/Jimmerman Fish

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

This season’s salmon catch numbers are low across the state, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Todd Andersen is an Assistant Area Biologist in Kodiak and says the sockeye salmon catches are less than expected.

“We woulda thought we had a good run coming there, but the fishing has been relatively slow,” says Andersen. “A lot of the fishermen aren’t catching all that much right now, but the short closures that we have had this year have put plenty of fish up-river within our escapement objectives for each of the systems that we manage early in the year here.”

According to the latest department figures, the current sockeye harvest is over 385,000, while the average catch at this point of the season is usually around 600,000.

Andersen says there are many different reasons sockeye catches could be lagging.

“There’s a lot of smaller fish early on, so you could go with a large run, or feeding conditions are a little different. Who knows?” he says. “Various areas in oceans where all these fish go – could be any different area – and there’s certainly migration paths. They’re a little different any given year. I think we’ll have a better picture through the later parts of the run.”
 
Andersen says the numbers could improve.

“The fishing just hasn’t been there yet for a lot of the cape fishermen and the set-netters. That doesn’t mean it will remain that way, though. We’ve got a long season ahead of us and the pink run will dictate how much time and how good the fishing is.”

He says Fish and Game’s automatic pink openers are scheduled for July 6, and the length of the first couple of those openers will be 57 hours due to the lower forecast for this year.