Business/Economy

Alaska commercial fishermen shatter all-time salmon harvest record

By mid-September, Alaska's record commercial salmon harvest had surpassed a staggering 269 million fish -- more than 21 percent above the previous mark.

The pink harvest of 216 million fish also was way beyond the previous record of 161 million humpies in 2005 -- an increase of some 34 percent.

Preliminary harvest totals published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game also put the sockeye salmon catch at 29.5 million fish, the silver harvest at 4.9 million fish and the king salmon harvest at 307,000 fish.

This is the fifth year of harvests exceeding 200 million fish.

In Southeast Alaska, the preliminary harvest total has reached 104 million salmon of all species, including 90 million pink, 10 million chum, 3 million silver, 897,000 red and 227,000 king salmon.

The overall Prince William Sound preliminary harvest stands at 94 million salmon of all species, including 87 million pink, 3 million chum, 2 million red, 520,000 silver and 10,000 king salmon.

In western Alaska, the count stands at 37 million pink, 8 million red, 2 million chum, 529,000 silver, and 44,000 kings.

The latest ADF&G postings of preliminary harvest data can be found here.

ADVERTISEMENT