Commercial fishing in Prince William Sound continues to wind down, with two more 24-hour openers in the Copper and Bering River districts concluding Friday.
Further announcements on seine and gillnet openers were also expected, as deliveries to processors in Prince William Sound creeped up to 48.6 million salmon delivered to processors through Sept. 9.
Consumers looking for fresh salmon, either headed and gutted or filleted, need to be shopping now – although some seafood shops, like Costco warehouses in Anchorage, now offer previously frozen fillets of sockeye salmon year-round.
The best deal in the Anchorage area this week was headed and gutted fresh silver salmon from Yakutat for $7.99 a pound. Anchorage area prices for coho fillets ranged from $12.99 a pound to $18.99 a pound, and Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle had silver fillets for $24.99 a pound.
The online seafood purveyor FishEx in Anchorage still was hawking Copper River sockeye premium portions for $36.95 a pound, down from $56.95 a pound, while Costco warehouses had fresh sockeye fillets from elsewhere in Alaska for $11.99 a pound.
For the week ending Sept. 6, the actual Copper River Delta survey count was 16,030 coho salmon, versus an anticipated range of 21,447 to 44,904 fish. High water and associated turbidity resulted in poor survey conditions in some index reaches, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).
For the week ending Sept. 6, the actual Bering River District survey count was 3,590 coho salmon, versus an anticipated range of 8,803 to 22,345 fish.
The preliminary ADF&G salmon harvest report for Prince William Sound through Sept. 9 showed a harvest of 48.6 million fish harvested – including 42.5 million pink, 4.6 million chum, 1.2 million sockeye, 249,000 coho, and 5,000 Chinook salmon. While the sockeye harvest was unchanged, the humpy harvest was up from 41.6 million a week earlier.
The statewide salmon harvest reached more than 86% of the annual projection through statistical week 36, noted Simon Marks, who compiles the in-season weekly commercial salmon harvest reports for McKinley Research Group on behalf of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. The Sept. 9 report was the last one for this season.
All salmon species have exceeded 80% of the annual projection as the season nears its end.
Coho harvests are expected to continue for a few more weeks, although weekly harvest of all other species has declined in line with past harvest timing, Marks said.
The statewide pink salmon harvest of 112 million fish is 24% below 2023. Kodiak is the only region with year-over-year growth – 36% above 2023. The Kodiak harvest had the potential to climb higher, however a diesel spill in the region closed the fishery in two sections of the Afognak district on Sept. 1.
The statewide keta harvest is 13% above 2024. Strong harvests in Prince William Sound and the Alaska Peninsula this year compensated for the 21% decline in the Southeast keta harvest. The keta harvest in 2025 peaked in week 28 and has declined since, which differs from past years in which harvest peaked again in week 33, Marks said.
An annual salmon season summary is to be distributed in November following the release of full season harvest data.
