The final tally is in, and Bristol Bay fishermen saw their second-largest sockeye return in two decades this summer. But by other measures, it wasn't as robust a fishery as some years past.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released an updated run summary on Sept. 9, which reported a total harvest of 37.3 million sockeye and total run of 51.4 million fish, the second largest since 1996.
That was well above the 46 million sockeye run expected before the season began, and above the 35.1 million average for that time period.
Egegik, Nushagak, Togiak and Ugashik all posted larger-than-forecast runs, while Naknek-Kvichak actually came in below forecast. Ugashik and Igushik had larger escapements than their goal ranges, but every other river system was within its goal range for sockeye, although the Alagnak survey indicated a smaller chinook run than expected.
The preliminary average sockeye size was 5.4 pounds — up from 2015, but still smaller than average.
According to the run summary, the sockeye fishery was worth $153.2 million. That's an increase from the $92.4 million value in 2015, and based on an average exvessel price of 76 cents per pound this past summer. That's a preliminary fishery value, and does not include quality bonuses, or post-season bonuses.
This year's run, like last year's, was among the latest on record — about seven days later than usual.
And by early September, while the sockeye run seemed to be over, some fishermen were still targeting silvers. The preliminary harvest count was about 91,387 silvers, the vast majority of which came from the Nushagak District, as is typically the case. There, more than 80,000 silvers were harvested in the 2016 fishery, which was more than the 20-year average.
For all species, the 2016 fishery was worth $156 million. Chum came in as the second most valuable fishery, with about 1 million fish, worth an average 32 cents per pound, making for a chum fishery value of about $2 million. That was slightly more fish than the 20-year average, and the Nushagak District was the largest contributor to the chum fishery.
Chinooks came in as the least-valuable fishery, worth $249,000 for 2016, with a price per pound of about 67 cents. The 29,570 chinook landed commercially was about half of the 20-year average of 49,368. Nushagak, Egegik, Naknek-Kvichak and Togiak had smaller-than-average chinook catches, causing the overall low numbers. The Ugashik harvest was larger than usual, with 1,146 caught in 2016, compared to an average of 852 for that district over the past 20 years.
This story first appeared in The Bristol Bay Times/Dutch Harbor Fisherman and is republished here with permission.