With an estimated run of 76 million fish, this summer’s sockeye salmon harvest in Bristol Bay is expected to be the largest yet recorded. But once all that fish is caught, where does it all end up?

Surprisingly, a significant volume of sockeye harvested in Bristol Bay and pink salmon caught in other parts of the state still goes into cans. And for years, the UK has been one of, if not the most important, market for the product.

But US trade figures show that since 2002 annual exports to the country have collapsed from 19,045 metric tons to 3,182 metric tons in 2021, a drop of 83 percent by volume and 60 percent by value -- despite the per kilo price for salmon more than doubling over that period.