Commercial Alaska Salmon Catch Reaches 23M Fish
Commercial harvester catches in Alaska’s statewide salmon fishery are off to a slow start this season, but have reached in excess of 23 million fish, say officials with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The catch includes over 15 million sockeyes from Bristol Bay, with over eight million sockeyes from the Nushagak District. The Egegik and Naknek-Kvichak districts each also contributed nearly three million red salmon.
Egegik/Ugashik area biologist Aaron Tiernan said while the surge is yet to come, harvesters have been bringing in well over one million salmon a day for the last week. They delivered about 1.6 million fish to processors on July 3, 2.5 million fish July 4, 2.5 million fish on July 5, 1.9 million fish on July 6, and 1.5 million fish on July 7, he said.
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