According to a July 17 fisheries update from KDLG in Dillingham, Alaska, Bristol Bay's 2026 sockeye salmon run continues to track toward its preseason forecast, with the total run reaching more than 43.2 million fish and the commercial harvest approaching 28.5 million.
Fishermen harvested 356,707 sockeye on Thursday, bringing the season's cumulative catch to 28,484,324 fish, about 88 percent of the preseason harvest forecast of 32.26 million sockeye. Total escapement reached 43,297,216 fish, putting the overall run within roughly 750,000 fish of the forecasted 44.05 million fish.
Egegik posted the largest daily harvest, with 163,104 sockeye landed Thursday. The district's season catch has climbed to 8,571,718 fish, already surpassing its preseason harvest forecast of 7.5 million. Egegik's total run now stands at 10,477,480 sockeye, well above the projected 8.9 million fish.
The Alagnak River recorded the largest single-day escapement, with 37,872 sockeye passing the counting towers. Total escapement there has reached 1,295,232 fish, far exceeding the river's minimum escapement goal of 210,000 sockeye.
Other districts also continued to post strong numbers:
- Nushagak District: 8,895,317 harvested; total run of 14,908,267 fish.
- Naknek-Kvichak District: 5,765,284 harvested; total run of 10,976,757 fish, essentially matching the preseason forecast.
- Ugashik: 5,153,644 harvested, exceeding its harvest forecast of 4.3 million fish.
- Togiak: 84,967 harvested.
Several river systems have already met or exceeded their escapement goals, including the Nushagak, Egegik and Ugashik rivers, while the Wood and Kvichak rivers remain within their target ranges.
KDLG also reported that vessel registration data will no longer be available for the remainder of the 2026 season because vessel registrations are no longer required.
