Haines salmon runs look middling — dock prices do not

In Haines, the story of the 2026 salmon season is price, not pile. Alaska Public Media (KHNS) reported Sept. 3 that local fishermen called the fishing itself unremarkable — and the dock tickets anything but. Fishermen said sockeye went for as much as about $3.25 per pound where roughly $2 is more typical, and chum as high as about $1.65 versus a usual sub-$1 market.

ADF&G biologist Nicole Zeiser described the Chilkoot sockeye run as below average but not terrible, and said both Chilkoot and Chilkat sockeye hit the state’s escapement goals this year (Chilkoot missed last year). Pink harvest sat around 79,000 fish so far against a 10-year average nearer 99,000. Lynn Canal coho and wild chum were still getting started when the story ran.

Mediocre volume plus strong price is still a paycheck — and a reminder that escapement goals and ex-vessel markets move on different clocks.

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

Source: Alaska Public Media / KHNS, “Haines fishermen say the salmon runs aren’t great this year, but the prices are” (Sept. 3, 2026).