Wednesday November 13, 2024
Alaska Public Media —
The world’s biggest sockeye salmon run will be larger than average next year, state biologists have forecasted.
The Bristol Bay sockeye run is expected to total 51.21 million fish in 2025, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s preseason forecast, issued last week.
That is 38% more than the long-term average of 37.07 million, calculated from 1963 to this year, the department’s forecast said. However, it is 16% smaller than the most recent 10-year average, a period that included extremely large runs and consecutive records in 2021 and 2022.
Next year’s run is expected to support a sockeye salmon harvest of 36.33 million fish, according to the department’s forecast.