The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) said fishing in the Copper River District will open for the fifth time Thursday, May 29, with sonar counts for the river system showing 177,000 fish -- far higher than the 78,000 fish anticipated for this early in the season, according to gillnet area management biologist Jeremy Botz.
"Everything is ahead of schedule," he said. "The last two previous periods have exceeded expectations."
As of Tuesday, ADF&G expected 372,000 sockeye to be harvested, but commercial crews have already caught 325,000 sockeye prior to Monday's opening, which is expected to exceed 100,000 sockeye during the course of that 24-hour period.
Preliminary
