January 26, 2021 — Upper Cook Inlet fishermen should expect another below-average sockeye salmon run this year.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasts a return of 4,370,000 sockeye to Upper Cook Inlet in 2021, according to a report released Friday.
Brian Marston, Fish and Game’s area manager for UCI commercial fisheries, says the projections aren’t surprising.
“We have seen lower-than-average runs, or right around the 4.3 million mark, which is what we’re predicting this year,” he said. “So it’s not too different from recent numbers, but it is below average.”
The inlet’s 20-year average is nearly 6 million sockeye. But runs over the last few years have been lower.