Anchorage Daily News

KODIAK -- Lackluster best describes Alaska's salmon season so far, and catches are likely to come up short when it's all over.

Fishery managers projected a 132 million salmon harvest for 2007, but catches totaled just 66 million fish in late July, past the midpoint of the season.

"We will be fortunate to make the forecast, but pinks could make up for a lot quickly," said Geron Bruce, deputy director of the state Commercial Fisheries Division. "We're at a really critical point right now, transitioning from sockeye and early chum runs to pink salmon, and some later sockeye fisheries and then cohos."

Managers predicted a significant decrease in this year's salmon catches, primarily due to projected reductions in pink salmon. But despite some bright spots at Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound and the South Peninsula, most Alaska salmon runs have been late and alarmingly low.

At Copper River, for example, the cumulative harvest for all 14 openers this season is 309,284 red and 11,255 king salmon. That compares to a total forecast of 742,166 sockeye and 46,908 Chinooks for a fishery that is winding down fast.

Sockeye salmon is the big money fish, making up two-thirds of the value of Alaska's total salmon catch. The statewide sockeye catch so far is 36 million; the preseason forecast called for 47 million fish.

"I don't think our sockeye catches are going to come up to what we expected. But it will still be pretty good," Bruce said.

"It sucks. It's really terrible," is how Tuck Bonney, assistant manager at Alaska Pacific Seafoods, summed up the Kodiak salmon fishery. Sockeye escapements have been marginal at major Kodiak systems this summer, and the combined catches for all species are below 2 million fish.

BRISTOL BAY

The story was different at Bristol Bay, home to the world's largest sockeye salmon runs. Fishermen were poised to catch 31 million reds there this summer, but when the run arrived late and all at once, processing capacity was overwhelmed. When the catch reached 2.6 million fish in a single day, fishermen were put on strict trip limits or told to stop fishing altogether.

"The governor's office got an earful from Bristol Bay fishermen who estimated 3 million harvestable fish swam by their idled nets," said fisheries adviser Cora Crome.

The state "actively put out feelers" for more processors, Crome said, but got no takers.

"We just didn't get any companies that really had a strong interest in being a new presence, and we definitely didn't get any applications from floating processors," Crome said, adding that it is apparent that Bristol Bay can use an assist.

"We have a consistent pattern in the bay right at the peak of the run where it's clear that there is a need out there for a little bit more processing," Crome said.

CHUMS AND PINKS

Meanwhile, Alaska's summer chum fisheries have just passed the midpoint with good catches (mostly hatchery fish) in prime producing regions of Southeast and Prince William Sound. The statewide chum harvest so far is 11 million out of 19 million fish forecast.

It's too early yet to predict any trends for coho, or silver, salmon, but Bruce called early catches "reasonable" at 1.5 million. The projected Alaska catch is 4.4 million cohos.

Which brings us back to those all important, tough to predict pinks.

While early hatchery runs appear strong at Price William Sound, the wild pink returns appear weak there and at other prime regions of Kodiak and especially Southeast Alaska.

"Southeast is the largest producer of wild pink salmon and it has not produced much of anything so far," said Bruce. "August will tell the tale."

The statewide pink salmon catch so far has topped 18 million fish. The projected harvest of 66 million pinks is down by more than half from last year, and would be the lowest catch since 1992.

COOL WEATHER?

Theories abound as to why so many of Alaska's salmon returns have been weak this year, but many blame it on cooler water and weather.

"That transition from fresh water to the marine environment is a really critical time period for juvenile salmon, and we haven't had very good springs in Alaska for several years. I believe that the early marine stage has had high mortality," Bruce said.

The cold weather, scratchy catches and skyrocketing fuel prices resulted in fewer salmon fishermen out on the water this year. Just 60 seiners are participating at Kodiak, for example, compared with 141 last year.

Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based fisheries journalist. Her Fish Radio programs can be heard on stations around the state. Her information column appears every other Sunday. This material is protected by copyright. For information on reprinting or placing on your Web site or newsletter, contact msfish@alaska.com.

ADVERTISEMENT