Bristol Bay’s 2026 sockeye run finishes at 45.7 million

The 2026 Bristol Bay commercial salmon season finished under 50 million sockeye for the first time since 2014. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s advisory announcement, issued Sept. 22 at 3:00 p.m., puts the preliminary inshore sockeye run at 45.7 million fish. That is 8 percent below the latest 20-year average of 49.6 million, and 4 percent above the preseason inshore forecast of 44.1 million. Every figure in the announcement is preliminary.

Baywide sockeye escapement was 15.6 million. Every sockeye escapement goal was met or exceeded except the Togiak River, which missed the lower bound of its goal. The commercial sockeye harvest was 30.1 million fish, 7 percent under the 32.3 million preseason harvest forecast. Other preliminary harvests in the department’s summary: 10,700 Chinook, 457,100 chum, 55,100 coho, and 666,700 pink salmon.

Preliminary exvessel value for all salmon species was about $264.0 million, 21 percent above the 20-year average of $207.8 million. ADF&G said those prices may not include incentives for icing, bleeding, floating, or production bonuses. Average sockeye weight was 5.0 pounds, the same as the recent five-year average.

Chinook are the weak stock inside a large sockeye year. Nushagak River Chinook remain a stock of management concern. The in-river run index at Portage Creek sonar was 36,339 fish, below both the escapement goal range of 55,000–120,000 and the in-river goal of 95,000. The department said it managed the Nushagak District more conservatively than the king-salmon stock-of-concern plan required. This season summary is separate from the Sept. 14 Bristol Bay sport report and the late-September Blue Sheet already on the desk. The contact on the announcement is (907) 267-2114.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: ADF&G — 2026 Bristol Bay Salmon Season Summary (PDF) (Advisory announcement, Sept. 22, 2026, 3:00 p.m.).