NAKNEK, Alaska — Record-breaking numbers of sockeye salmon have returned to southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay, and the tally is expected to climb higher in the days ahead.
As of Thursday, fishing crews had caught 53.3 million fish since the beginning of the run, which far outpaces the previous record catch of 44.3 million set in 1995.
Bristol Bay sustains the largest sockeye runs in North America. Hundreds of Washington fishers hold permits allowing them, and their crews, to participate in the harvest at a time when many commercial salmon fisheries in the Northwest have been in long-term decline.
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