The Bristol Bay salmon season is off to a slow start, but will there be a furious finish?

The early stage of this year's Bristol Bay sockeye salmon season is tracking slightly behind last year, but it's too early to tell if the run is on track to hit preseason forecasts, say fishery managers.

"Part of it is that we aren’t reporting some of the harvest because it is confidential," Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) Biologist Tim Sands told IntraFish. "Part of it is that fishing is a little slower to start. Last year in the Nushagak we had our first real opening on June 25.