Lower harvest, but heftier weights predicted
The initial 2024 sockeye harvest at Bristol Bay is predicted at 26.4 million reds, which would be 32% below the ten year average.
That’s based on a projected run of 38.9 million sockeye, according to the University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute (FRI). has published a preliminary forecast of the 2024 Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run.
The projected average weight of sockeye salmon in 2024 is 5.5 pounds.
A recap of the 2023 fishery at Bristol Bay shows a harvest of 39.4 million sockeye for the season and a total run of 53.3 million reds.
The 2023 harvest is just shy of the 2016-2021 average harvest of 41.8 million sockeye, but well short of the 2022 record 61.0 million fish harvest.
The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association provides a link HERE to read the FRI’s Preliminary 2024 Sockeye Forecast for Bristol Bay and other news of interest from the region.
