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5 Amazing Facts about Bristol Bay, Alaska

  1. Every year, an average of 38 million sockeye have returned to Bristol Bay. How many salmon is that? If 38 million sockeye salmon were arranged nose-to-tail, they would stretch from Alaska to Australia and back. (BristolBaySockeye.org)

  2. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the record salmon run in Bristol Bay was set in 1980 when 62 million fish returned. Fish & Game area managers began keeping records in 1952. (Alaska Dispatch)

  3. Upper reaches of Bristol Bay experience some of the highest tides in the world. One such reach, the Nushagak Bay near Dillingham and another near Naknek in Kvichak Bay have tidal extremes in excess of 30 feet, ranking them as the eighth highest in the world.

  4. Up until 1951, motorized fishing vessels were prohibited in Bristol Bay. Sailboats were used exclusively for fishing in the bay for more than 60 years. The commercial fishery has change a lot since then, but the sailboat remains the iconic image of a fishery born on the wind. (Courtesy “Sailing for Salmon”).

  5. The Bristol Bay fishery is valued at $1.5 billion. Roughly half of the world’s harvest of wild salmon comes from Bristol Bay. Commercial fishermen, fish processors, lodge owners, guides, and tourism operators make up the 14,000 salmon-based jobs in the region. (SaveBristolBay.org)

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