The commercial fishermen were having decent catch of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon this year. Though commercial seafood processors complain that the sockeye harvest is slow and may potentially come in under forecast, state biologists still expect a healthy harvest of roughly 25 million to 27 million Bristol Bay salmon this year. As per the prediction released by the state last year the harvest of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon was nearly 32 million. Dan Gray, the regional commercial fisheries management coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said that they were above forecast in some systems and below forecast in others.
He added that they seem to be coming into the bay a little slower and a little more spread out. The Nushagak is one of the five major Bristol Bay river systems. Over the last 15 years, the Bristol Bay sockeye catch has averaged about 23 million fish, according to the state Division of Commercial Fisheries. The average for the last five years has been higher: 28 million sockeye.
According to Gray the bay’s commercial fishermen have been catching roughly 1 million sockeye per day with a few exceptions. But Greg Blakey, co-owner of Snopac Products Inc., is concerned because he and other Bristol Bay processors had expected more fish by now. Family-owned Snopac has a 337-foot floating processor near Naknek and a land-based plant in Dillingham. However, the quality of this year’s catch is better than previous one.
