Bristol Bay sockeye run surpasses forecast as harvest nears 29.3M

In a July 21 Bristol Bay fisheries update, the region's sockeye salmon run has now exceeded preseason expectations, with the total run climbing to 44.38 million fish—surpassing the forecast of 44.05 million—while the cumulative harvest reached 29.29 million sockeye.

The baywide catch on Monday totaled 164,316 fish, nearly double the previous day's harvest, while daily escapement remained relatively steady at 69,410 fish.

The Nushagak District added 14,689 sockeye to the harvest, bringing its season total to 8.97 million fish, while the district's total run reached 15.1 million. The Nushagak River sonar counted 3,422 sockeye, pushing seasonal escapement to more than 3.11 million fish, well above the upper end of its escapement goal.

The Igushik River posted the highest daily escapement among Bristol Bay rivers, with tower crews counting 18,348 sockeye on Monday. Seasonal escapement now stands at 459,210 fish, exceeding the river's escapement goal.

The Naknek-Kvichak District landed 54,414 sockeye, bringing its cumulative harvest to 6.09 million fish, while the district's total run climbed to 11.43 million, surpassing its preseason forecast. The Alagnak River continued strong returns with 9,780 fish counted Monday, bringing seasonal escapement to 1.38 million sockeye.

Egegik fishermen harvested 46,314 sockeye Monday, pushing the district's season catch to 8.8 million fish, well above its preseason harvest forecast of 7.5 million. Total run size has now reached 10.77 million fish, also ahead of forecast.

In Ugashik, another 31,986 sockeye were landed, bringing the cumulative catch to 5.31 million fish, while the total run climbed to 6.94 million, exceeding preseason projections. Seasonal escapement reached 1.64 million fish, above the upper end of the district's escapement goal.

Meanwhile, the Chignik River weir recorded another 31,614 sockeye on Monday, pushing the season total past the half-million mark to 521,137 fish. Of those, 5,498 were early-run fish and 26,116 were late-run sockeye.

No harvest update was available for Area M in time for KDLG's report.