The Alaska Department of Fish and Game provided the 2021 Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Salmon Fishery Summary. The estimated 2021 exvessel value of all salmon species was $13.9 million, second lowest in the last 10 years, and roughly 48% less than the previous 10-year average annual exvessel value of $27 million.
Brian Marston, UCI Area Management Biologist told KSRM:
“While all five species of pacific salmon are present in Upper Cook Inlet, sockeye salmon are the most valuable accounting for nearly 93% of the total exvessel value during the past 20 years. For sockeye salmon, the 2021 Upper Cook Inlet estimated total run of 5.7 million fish was 1.3 million fish larger than the preseason forecast of 4.4 million fish. Average run size for sockeye salmon in Upper Cook Inlet is 5.9 million fish. The commercial salmon fishery harvest of 1.7 million salmon was the third smallest since 1975 and 42% less than the recent average harvest. Some individual fisheries fared better than others with the northern district setnet fisheries doing best. Salmon escapements into Upper Cook Inlet streams in 2021 were mostly above or within escapement goal ranges for sockeye and chum salmon that were within or below goal ranges for coho and chinook salmon. Most important to Upper Cook Inlet, the optimal escapement goals for late run large Kenai River Chinook salmon was not achieved and conservation efforts for this species limited fishing time decision this past year. Additionally, run timing of sockeye salmon was estimated to be two to nine days late.”
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NOTE: photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Fish and Game Facebook page