Alaska’s 2021 commercial salmon harvest of 233.8 million fish valued at $643.9 million.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s preliminary harvest and value figures on the 2021 commercial salmon fishery show a value of $643.9 million, up from $295.2 million, with 233.8 million fish caught, compared to 116.8 million fish in 2020.
The 2021 all-species commercial salmon harvest of 233.9 million fish and 858.5 million pounds is the third highest on record for both total fish harvested and total pounds harvested.
Adjusted for inflation, the 2021 exvessel value estimate of $643.9 million is also the third highest exvessel value reported since 1975. State biologists noted that these are preliminary harvest and value estimates that will change as fish tickets are processed and finalized.
Preliminary figures show that sockeye salmon accounted for about 56 per cent of the total value at $361.4 million and 24 per cent of the harvest at just under 57 million fish.
Humpies accounted for about 28 per cent of the value at $178.8 million and 69 per cent of the harvest with under 161 million fish, Chums were nearly 10 per cent of the value at $62.7 million and about 6 per cent of the harvest with 128 million fish. The cohos comprised about 4 per cent of the value at $23.9 million and 1 per cent of the harvest at 2.7 million fish, Chinooks were estimated to include over 265,000 fish with an estimated preliminary exvessel value of $17.1 million.
The ADF&G report said a total of 6,362 individual permit holders made landings in 2021, a slight decrease from 6,496 individual permit holders in 2020.
