State expects pink salmon harvest less than half last year

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported April 25 that commercial fishermen caught a total of 66.6 million salmon in Southeast Alaska during 2023, including wild runs and hatchery-produced fish.

For this year, the department is predicting much lower numbers for Southeast, with much weaker pink salmon returns.

Fish and Game last week issued its prediction that Southeast fishermen across all commercial gear groups would catch a total of 38.7 million salmon this summer, including 169,000 chinook, 929,000 sockeye, 1.5 million coho, 16 million chum and 19.7 million pinks — less than half of...