Significant decrease in Alaska salmon 2008 run forecast

Tor-Eddie Fossbakk The 2008 total commercial salmon catch (all species) projection of 137 million is expected to comprise 672,000 Chinook (O. tshawytscha), 47.2 million sockeye salmon (O. nerka), 4.4 million Coho salmon (O. kisutch), 66.4 million pink salmon and 18.7 million chum salmon (O. keta). The data is presented in “Run Forecasts and Harvest Projections for 2008 Alaska Salmon Fisheries and Review of the 2007 Season”. The projected pink salmon harvest is about 53 percent less than the harvest experienced in 2007 (142 million) and about 25 percent less than the recent five even-year average. The sockeye salmon harvest projection is slightly higher than the harvest that occurred in 2007. This projected increase is primarily the result of the expected increase in the sockeye salmon harvest in Bristol Bay. Chum salmon harvests are expected to be slightly less than those in 2007. The Alaska salmon harvest of all species combined for 2007 totaled 213 million fish, which was about 34 million fish greater than the preseason forecast of 179 million and the fourth largest salmon harvest since 1960. This combined harvest was composed of 563,000 Chinook salmon, 46.3 million sockeye salmon, 4.4 million Coho salmon, 142 million pink salmon and 19.2 million chum salmon.