The Southeast summer troll fishery opened July 1, paving the way for fishermen – mostly trollers – to hit the open waters hoping to land the prize fish: chinook salmon, or kings.
Most associate the arrival of chinooks with the first Copper River salmon delivery to Seattle, more ceremonial really. But harvests from Southeast waters represented a lion's share of last season's take – about $11.3 million of statewide commercial totals of $13.4 million.
That's according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, whose preliminary calculations peg the number of kings caught in the Southeast region at 267,000.
The region, as defined by the international Pacific Salmon Treaty spans an area starting from the U.S./Canadian border to Cape Suckling immediately south of Prince William Sound.
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Photo by Steve Quinn for the Journal