September 20, 2013 — It’s been a record year for commercial fishermen in Southeast Alaska, with more than 100 million salmon caught in the region for the first time ever.
Coho have returned to Southeast in the highest numbers since 1994, leading the troll fishery to almost double last year’s catch. Purse seiners have topped their previous overall salmon catch record by more than 10 million. Gillnetters’ top three years on record are the last three, with this year the highest. Pink salmon have also returned to Southeast in record numbers, trollers have caught more chum than they have since statehood, and the season isn’t over yet.
“Southeast as a whole has had a very strong salmon season,” said Pattie Skannes, troll management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “It’s been a particularly great year for all except Chinook.”
The king salmon catch is determined annually based on a treaty with Canada. Trollers caught 84,653 kings in six days, fulfilling the annual troll treaty allocation, so there was no second opening.
The record breaking salmon returns are likely due in part to favorable marine conditions over the past year.
“Generally it looks like there’s been incredible marine survival in the ocean for both coho and pink salmon,” said Leon Shaul, Coho Research Project Leader for Southeast Alaska in the commercial fisheries division of Fish and Game. “Both spend one year in the ocean, so apparently they encountered incredible conditions.”
Read the full story at the Juneau Empire