Alaska Fish Factor

Alaska’s salmon harvest and value for 2012 came in well below last year, dropping 21 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

According to preliminary state tallies, the value of the salmon catch totaled nearly $506 million at the docks this summer on a statewide catch of 124 million fish. That compares to a 2011 take of 177 million salmon valued at just over $641 million.

A breakdown shows that the 2012 Chinook harvest of 333,000 was worth $17.6 million; sockeyes came in at 35.2 million valued at nearly $246 million; the coho catch of 3 million rang in at about $22.5 million; pinks totaled 67 mi...