Fish Factor: 2018 salmon harvest projected at 149 million fish, down 34% from 2017 take of 226 million salmon

Alaska’s 2018 salmon season officially gets underway this week with the first 12-hour opener on May 17 for sockeyes and kings returning to the Copper River.

The catch there this year calls for 19,000 kings and 942,000 sockeye salmon targeted by a fleet of more than 500 drift gillnetters.

Here’s a primer of how fishery managers project the rest of Alaska’s salmon season may play out:

Statewide, the 2018 salmon harvest is projected at 149 million fish, down 34 percent from the 2017 take of 226 million salmon.

The shortfall this season stems from lower projections for hard to predict pink salmon....

 

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