Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are forecasting a run of some 4.0 million sockeye salmon to Upper Cook Inlet in 2017, with a commercial harvest of 1.7 million fish.
That forecasted harvest is 1.2 million fish less than the 20-year average harvest.
For 2016, the red salmon harvest by all user groups in Upper Cook Inlet totaled 3.3 million fish, which was 2.0 million less than the preseason forecast of 5.3 million fish, biologists said.
The run forecast for the Kenai River is approximately 2.2 million, which is 1.4 million less than the 20-year average run of 3.6 million fish.