As of October, the 2005 Alaska salmon harvest is 206 million salmon, the third-largest on record and only slightly below the top harvest of 217 million set in 1995. A record pink salmon catch and strong sockeye harvest were major contributors to the near-record. Chinook and coho both came in slightly under projection, while the statewide chum harvest was short of projection by one-third.
SMIS estimates that final ex-vessel value from the 2005 season will be at or above $300 million. This represents the third consecutive year of increasing salmon value since the low point of 2002, and the first time since 1999 that ex-vessel value will exceed $300 million.
The pink harvest of 146 million fish is a new record, surpassing the previous record of 145 million set in 1999. Each of the three major pink-producing regions (Southeast, Prince William Sound and Kodiak) exceeded their respective pre-season projections by 10 million pinks or more. Of course, biological run strength is the main driver for the new record, but improved market conditions for pink salmon also played a role by providing incentive for processors to buy more of the harvestable surplus than in recent years.
The sockeye harvest of 43 million fish was slightly over projection. This marks the first time in a decade that Alaska sockeye harvest has exceeded 40 million fish for two consecutive years. 2005 is one of only 13 seasons in the last century when the sockeye harvest was over 40 million fish. Bristol Bay fishermen landed 24 million reds this season (56 percent of the state total) and other Alaska sockeye fisheries accounted for the remaining 19 million fish.
As of late October the coho harvest is 4.6 million fish, 8 percent below the 5-million-fish projection. As harvest figures are finalized, total coho harvest will likely wind up at or slightly below projection. Average size of coho in the 2005 season was 6.5 pounds, substantially smaller than previous years’ fish.
The statewide chum harvest came in 38 percent below projection; 10.8 million fish on a 17.6 million projection. This is the third consecutive year that statewide chum harvest has been significantly below projection. Like both of the previous two years, most of the 2005 shortfall was in Southeast, where harvest was only 6.4 million on a 10.5 million projection.
The statewide King salmon harvest was 662,000 fish, compared to pre-season projection of 765,000. Most of the shortfall was in Bristol Bay where a weather-related quirk resulted in record-setting king salmon escapement and a harvest/forecast shortfall of 87,000 Chinooks. Most other areas were at or near projected levels.
