Led by Bristol Bay, the 2020 Alaska salmon season is improving after a summer of slow fishing. Last week’s harvest of 22 million salmon was double the entire harvest of the eight prior weeks. While optimism has increased, statewide production continues to lag comparable years with some areas well below normal harvest.
Last week’s statewide harvest of 18.3 million sockeye brings the current season within 20% of the 5-year average. Incredibly productive fishing in Bristol Bay saw records fall across the region with many harvesters put on limits. Bristol Bay is a third behind the strong 2019 season, slightly below the 5-year average, and slightly above the 10-year average. Sockeye fishing improved in Kodiak and the AK Pen. & Aleutian Is. region but remained slow in Cook Inlet, Southeast, and PWS. Historically low escapement counts in Chignik have prevented any meaningful harvest.
The pink harvest of about 4.9 million fish is double the 2018 pace. (This figure should be considered a lower bound as some data is withheld by ADF&G to preserve harvester/processor confidentiality.) PWS has contributed about 60% of the pink harvest followed by AK Pen. & Aleutian Is. with nearly all the remainder.
The YTD harvest of 2.8 million keta ranks among the smallest in at least 15 years, down 60% from 2019 and the 5-year average. The slow harvest is particularly disappointing to residents of the AYK region and Southeast due to the relative importance of the species to their annual harvest. The current week is typically the peak for keta harvest, though strong fishing has increasingly occurred through the end of August.
Coho volume typically trends higher in mid-July to an average weekly production level of about 200,000 to 400,000 fish through September.
This weekly email is produced by McDowell Group on behalf of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Please let us know if you would like to be removed from the distribution list. These weekly updates can also be found here on the ASMI website.
Thanks,
Garrett Evridge
Economist
McDowell Group
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Disclaimer POW Report is run by Arthur Martin Candidate for House District 35
Disclaimer POW Report is run by Arthur Martin Candidate for House District 35
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