Wrangell Sentinel -

Salmon that begin their lives in Alaska hatcheries often save the day for thousands of fishermen when returns of wild stocks are a bust. This year was a prime example, when pinks and chums that originated in hatcheries made up for record shortfalls for fishing towns in the Gulf of Alaska.

“This year Kodiak hatchery fish added up to more than $6 million for fishermen, and also for sport fish, subsistence and personal use fisheries,” Tina Fairbanks, director of the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association, said in testimony to the Kodiak Island Borough after one of the Island’s poorest s...