Alaska's 2022 sockeye salmon forecast is expected to break records with a forecasted harvest of 74 million fish, but other salmon species in Alaska likely face another challenging year.
Nearly 74 percent of the 270 million pounds of sockeye salmon harvested in Alaska in 2021 came from Bristol Bay. Dan Lesh, an economist with McKinley Research Group, estimates Bristol Bay fishermen will harvest around 282 million pounds of sockeye this year, outpacing any harvest since 2017.
"While fresh sales have increased in recent years, a run of this size will challenge processors and product mix could shift toward higher volume frozen headed and gutted processing as well as max out canning line capacities in the state," he said.
