Commercial salmon harvests are expected to shoot up 39 percent this summer, a welcome bounty for Alaska fishermen — expecially those harvesting pink salmon.
Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are forecasting an increase from 129 million fish in 2012 to 179 million fish this year — largely due to a boom in pink salmon harvests. The total haul is expected to include 110,000 Chinook salmon in areas outside of Southeast Alaska, 34.3 million sockeye, 3.9 million silver, 117.8 million pink and 22.7 million chum salmon.
Pinks, pinks and more pinks
The projected pink harvest is a whopping 73 percent higher than the harvest of 68 million humpies in 2012. On the other hand, the projected sockeye and chum salmon harvests are expected to be flat.
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