November 11, 2022 — It looks like Alaska’s commercial salmon industry is pulling itself out of a pandemic rut. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its preliminary statewide summary for the year Nov. 10. The harvests for all five salmon species in all fisheries equaled $720.4 million. That’s $76.5 million more than last year and $425.2 million more than two years ago.
2020 saw a low of $295.2 million – one of the worst on record.
Sockeye salmon made up approximately 66% of the state’s total value this year. Most of that is due to the record-breaking Bristol Bay fishery at nearly 69.7 million fish.