Many Kodiak fishers spend the summer salmon season around the archipelago. But many others also head to Bristol Bay to harvest sockeye. KMXT Reporter Brian Venua is from Dillingham and previously reported for KDLG’s Bristol Bay Fisheries Report. He was in town visiting family last week, and stopped by the station to talk to Bristol Bay Fisheries Report Director Corinne Smith, for an update on how the season is going on the other side of the Alaska Peninsula.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity
Brian Venua: Last year was this huge, unprecedented run of fish but it looks like this year is actually pretty similar to the previous record, which was two years ago in 2021. Would you mind telling us how it’s been compared to the averages or how that year was? What does it look like?
Corinne Smith: Yeah, so this year in Bristol Bay is very different and I think each season sort of starts that way. Last year was a booming year – some people I talked to called it a double boom year – it was 79 million salmon returning to Bristol Bay. That’s 80% above the 20-year average. It was just absolutely incredible and unheard of.
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