Salmon
Southwest Alaska Network. 2018. Salmon. Southwest Alaska Network
Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) are critical to the cultural, economic, and ecological integrity of the Bristol Bay region in Alaska. Sockeye salmon have sustained people living in the region and provided for the majority of their subsistence diet for centuries. In addition to the sockeye caught by local residents, the Bristol Bay commercial fleet harvests around 20 million sockeye salmon annually valued at more than $100 million, making it the world’s largest and most valuable commercial sockeye fishery. Ecologically, sockeye salmon returning from the sea provide energy and nutrients vital to the freshwater ecosystems in which they spawn, as well as the neighboring riparian and terrestrial ecosystems.
- Type
- Resource Brief
- Authors
- Southwest Alaska Network
- Date of Issue
- 2018-03
- Publisher
- Southwest Alaska Network
- Units
- ALAG , KATM , KEFJ , LACL , SWAN
- Keywords
- escapement, harvest, salmon, sockeye
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Fishes , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Consumptive Use | Consumptive Use