Alaska’s statewide salmon harvest wrapped up just shy of 87.5 million fish, 70% of the preseason forecast, and nearly 45% lower than the 2025 catch that topped 197 million salmon.
It is the first time in 39 years that Alaska’s total salmon harvest came in below 100 million fish.
None of Alaska’s five salmon species reached preseason harvest projections, reported McKinley Research Group in its weekly updates for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
A weak return of pink salmon was a main driver of the statewide harvest shortfall. The forecast called for a catch of nearly 56 million humpies, but landings came in at just under 38 million.
Pink catches varied widely by region. A late August surge pushed Kodiak’s harvest to nearly 13 million, and Southeast’s pink salmon catch set two daily records, ending the season at over 17.5 million.
A dismal pink catch at Prince William Sound, typically one of Alaska’s pink powerhouses driven by hatchery production, produced just 3.8 million fish out of a projected 18.6 million. That has Alaska lawmakers drafting fishery disaster declarations for the region.
Another potential disaster: at Upper Cook Inlet where a sockeye catch of 5.6 fish was predicted, the harvest fell below one million for reds and under two million for all salmon.
The 2026 Bristol Bay sockeye catch also came up short at under 30 million fish, a big drop from the hefty harvests seen in recent years.
Salmon dock prices “highest in decades”
Fishermen got an astonishing 60-70 cents a pound for their pink salmon, twice last year’s price, and the highest price in 37 years according to the Kodiak Daily Mirror.
At Southeast Alaska, pinks were fetching 65 cents a pound for fishermen, double recent prices.
Sockeye prices were paying out as much as $3.25 per pound in Southeast, compared to the more typical $2.00, reported KHNS. Chums that usually bring less than $1 per pound were as priced as high as $1.65.
At Bristol Bay, the pre-season price offering to fishermen of $1.60 per pound was 30 cents higher than in 2025, and a whopping 80 cents more than in 2024, reported Scott Atkinson at National Fisherman.
“Prices rose further by mid-July, with Silver Bay and Trident Seafoods offering $2 per pound for chilled, bled, and floated product, and even slightly higher prices were being reported,” Atkinson said
By mid September, Alaska’s preliminary salmon catches totaled 170,000 Chinook, just under 10.5 million chums, 1.4 million coho salmon, 37.8 million pinks and over 37.6 million sockeyes.
That compares to pre-season harvest projections of 197,000 Chinook, 17.2 million chums, 2.4 million coho salmon, 56 million pinks and 49.7 million sockeyes for a total of 125.5 million salmon.
A final report summing up Alaska’s 2026 salmon season will be out in November.
Find the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game’s full 2026 Alaska salmon forecasts and harvest projections here —
