Fisheries, Subsistence, and Habitat
Publications Searchable Database
Search Again| Division: | Commercial Fish |
| Title: | Upper Cook Inlet commercial fisheries annual management report, 2022. |
| Author: | Lipka, C., and L. Stumpf. |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Report ID: | Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Management Report No. 24-04, Anchorage. |
| Abstract: | This annual management report describes commercial fishery management in Upper Cook Inlet of Southcentral Alaska. The Upper Cook Inlet management area is made up of salt waters north of Anchor Point and divided into 2 management districts. The Central District includes 6 subdistricts, and the Northern District includes 2 subdistricts. Five species of Pacific salmon (Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye O. nerka, coho O. kisutch, pink O. gorbuscha, and chum O. keta), as well as razor clams (Siliqua patula), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), and eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) are commercially harvested. All species of salmon are harvested in both districts, herring and clams are only harvested in the Central District, and eulachon are only harvested in the Northern District. The total run estimate for sockeye salmon in 2022 of 5.2 million was 6% higher than the preseason forecast of 4.9 million fish. The total commercial harvest of 1.4 million salmon was 44% less than the recent 10-year average annual harvest of 2.5 million fish and of that, the sockeye salmon harvest of 1.1 million was 43% less than the recent 10-year average harvest of 1.9 million fish. The 2022 exvessel value of all salmon was $13.1 million, which was 43% less than the 2012–2021 average annual exvessel value of $23.1 million and approximately 51% less than the 1970–2021 average annual exvessel value of $26.8 million. Sockeye salmon accounted for the majority of the exvessel value at 93%. In 2022, 3 of 6 sockeye salmon escapement estimates were within their escapement goal ranges, 2 of 6 exceeded those goal ranges, and the Kenai River is likely near the upper end of the goal range. |
| Keywords: | sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha, chum salmon O. keta, coho salmon O. kisutch, pink salmon O. gorbuscha, Pacific herring Clupea pallasii, eulachon Thaleichthys pacificus, razor clam Siliqua patula, commercial fishery, personal use fishery, gillnet, escapement, Upper Cook Inlet, Annual Management Report, AMR |