The total commercial salmon harvest in Alaska this year was extremely low, both in quantity and value.

The number of Alaska salmon caught by commercial fishermen was the third smallest since records of all species began in 1985, and the value to fishermen, when adjusted for inflation, was the lowest reported since 1975, state officials said.

Additionally, the 450 million pounds of salmon contained in the total harvest was the lowest on record, officials said.

The totals come from a preliminary summary of this year’s salmon season released Nov. 18 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Only 101.2 million salmon were caught this year, less than half of the 232.2 million caught last year, the ministry said. The money paid to fishermen for their catches, known as ex-vessel value, totaled $304 million, up from $398 million last year, the ministry said:

The poor results of this year’s salmon harvest are among a host of problems in Alaska’s seafood industry, a key economic sector in the state.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” said Forrest Bowers, acting director of the department’s Commercial Fisheries Division.

In some ways, a low total harvest was expected, Bowers said.

Preseason forecasts predicted a weaker overall return of pink salmon, also called humpback salmon, the most abundant and least expensive of Alaska’s five salmon species, he said. Pink salmon have a two-year life cycle and returns in even years are generally lower than in odd years, he noted.

The difference between even and odd years is just one of many factors considered when state biologists make preseason forecasts for salmon. Other factors include the performance of past runs, the breeding needs of specific areas, and the successes or difficulties experienced by different age groups of fish.

This year’s pink salmon run was much lower than expected, even for an even year, Bowers said.

The pink salmon harvest ultimately represented only 58% of what was planned at the start of the season, according to the ministry.

While harvests of sockeye and Chinook salmon turned out to be a little higher than expected at the start of the season, low returns rose, along with lower-than-expected harvests of coho salmon, also called silver salmon, and chum salmon.

In total, the 2024 salmon harvest was 25% lower than the 135.7 million fish predicted in the pre-season forecast, according to the ministry.

The statewide sockeye salmon harvest provided brighter spots in a rather gloomy picture for the state.

Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, accounted for about two-thirds of fishermen’s total value this year and 42% of the total harvest, according to ministry information. In most salmon fishing areas, sockeye salmon were the most valuable species, according to reports.

In the Bristol Bay region, home to the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world, this year’s return was well above forecast and 7% higher than the 20-year average, although the amount commercially harvested was slightly below average. In this region, the average fish size this year was the smallest on record, part of a long-term trend toward smaller fish sizes for Pacific salmon.

Bowers said the size of Alaska’s 2024 salmon harvest should be put into perspective, even if the numbers “are considered a shock to many people.”

Big harvests have been common in recent years, he noted. Of the ten years in which Alaska has recorded salmon harvests exceeding 200 million fish, six have occurred since the record year of 2013, when commercial fishermen caught 280 million salmon, he said. he declared.

“We are in a period of relatively high salmon abundance,” he said. “I kind of view 2024 as an outlier.”

There have been a few years of small harvests recently, he said. The total commercial salmon harvest in 2016 was only 111 million fish, and 2018’s was 114 million fish, he said. Both were even years, that is, years when pink salmon returns were lower, he noted.

He expects improvements next year, he said. Early indications are that the total will be between 150 and 200 million fish, he said.

The recently released pre-season forecast for next year’s Bristol Bay salmon season is somewhat optimistic, at least when it comes to fish quantity. The sockeye salmon run in 2025 is expected to be more than a third higher than the long-term average.

Originally published by Alaska Beacon.