The kick-off comes with the arrival of reds and kings to the Copper River
The season’s first sockeyes and Chinook salmon can be pulled from the Copper River starting at 7:00 am on Monday, May 16 during a 12-hour drift gillnet fishing period. Waters within the expanded Chinook salmon inside closure area will be CLOSED during this period, the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game announced on May 4.
The 2022 Copper River Chinook salmon forecast is for a total run of about 39,000 fish and a commercial harvest of 7,000 fish.
Total Copper River sockeye salmon harvest estimate (all fisheries) is predicted to be 928,000 fish with a commercial harvest of 716,000 reds.
AK 2020 salmon harvest takes a 32% dip
The total statewide, all-species salmon harvest for 2022 is projected at 160.6 million fish. That compares to a catch of nearly 235 million salmon in 2021.
Find all of the salmon forecasts by species and region in the ADF&G annual report titled Run Forecasts and Harvest Projections for 2022 Alaska Salmon Fisheries and Review of the 2021 Season .
The breakdown of the 2022 catch is expected to include 310,000 Chinook salmon, 74 million sockeye salmon, 3.6 million coho salmon, 67.2 million pink salmon, and 15.4 million chums.
The preliminary dockside value of the Alaska salmon catch in 2021 was nearly $644 million.
See more Alaska 2022 salmon projections here –
