July 20, 2020 — As of two days ago, Bristol Bay landings of sockeye salmon have reached 30.7 million sockeye, with a total run clocking at 47.37 million sockeye. The run appears to be about a week later than historic timing indicates (with a peak during the week of July 4) and slightly more than pre-season estimates of 49 million sockeye, based on in-season Port Moller Test Fishery data.
The Bristol Bay salmon season is managed first by escapement, which looks good in all the major rivers. The highest producing system so far is Naknek-Kvichak with 11.13 million sockeye caught to date. The forecast for that three-river system is 12.34 million. Escapement there has been 9.43 million, nearly 3 million more than the pre-season forecast of 6.67 million.