State fish biologists’ annual forecast has sent wave pf happiness among the southeast seiners as they look forward to a bigger haul of salmons this year. It is said that this summer’s commercial salmon season overall could be 11th largest salmon season since 1960, an increase due mostly to Southeast pinks. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its forecast Tuesday saying that there would be a 174.8 million fish catch statewide includes fisheries for all five species of salmon except Southeast’s Chinook catch. Last year’s statewide catch was 146.1 million fish.
Geron Bruce of the Commercial Fisheries Division informed that 2009 should be a better year for everybody except for the trollers. It is sad that trollers have faced drastic cuts in the Chinook catch recently; the allocation is determined by the Pacific Salmon Commission under an international treaty and is due out in the next month.
Bruce told that Fish and Game’s forecast is intended to help the industry decide how many fish to gear up for. He also added that other factors besides how much fish is available affect the eventual catch, however, including prices, the number of boats fishing, processor and tender capacity, and the geographical distribution of the fish. The greatest uncertainty lies with the pink salmon forecast, because we have the least data, says Bruce.
The Southeast sockeye harvest, most of which is caught by gillnetters with a smaller proportion caught by seiners, also might pick up this year if the forecast is right. Last year’s harvest was the lowest since 1975.
