Bristol Bay Sockeye Haul Was Solid, But Fish Are Getting Smaller

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released 2024 Bristol Bay harvest numbers, and while it was an impressive haul of fish, as has been the trend recently, the size of the reds harvested as getting smaller.

The Alaska Beacon with some details:

Bristol Bay’s sockeye salmon run totaled 51.6 million fish, more than a third higher than the preseason forecast of 37.9 million fish and about 7% higher than the average over the past 20 years, according to the department’s preliminary numbers, released this week.

The total sockeye harvest was 31.6 million fish, about 5% below the 20-year average, the department said. That left large numbers of sockeye salmon to return all the way to their freshwater spawning sites, a status called escapement. An estimated 20 million sockeye salmon made that full return trip, and escapement goals for that species were met or exceeded in all areas of the system, the department reported.

An important factor was the small size of the individual fish, Fish and Game officials said.

Salmon sizes in Bristol Bay and elsewhere have trended down in recent decades. This year, the average sockeye salmon weight was 4.53 pounds, the smallest on record, according to the department.

ADFG also reported mixed results for other Bristol Bay salmon harvests. While the 506,541 chum salmon haul was “50 percent below the recent 20-year average of 1.0 million fish, but the largest harvest since 2019,” ADFG says.

As for coho salmon, ADFG produced these numbers: “The preliminary coho salmon harvest in 2024 was 28,804 fish (Table 1), 70% below the recent 20-year average of 96,337 fish (Elison et. al 2024). The Nushagak District is typically the largest producer of coho salmon and accounted for 21,453 of the fish harvest in 2024. Harvests of coho salmon can be variable from year to year depending on processor availability, market conditions, and overall fishing effort. In 2024, fishing ended early due in part to bad weather and low market interest in purchasing coho salmon. Coho escapement is not monitored in Bristol Bay.”