As expected, Alaska’s 2013 salmon catch is one for the record books. Early tallies by state fishery managers show that fishermen caught 272 million salmon this summer, smashing the previous record of 221 salmon in 2005. The fishery was powered by a whopping catch of 219 million pinks.

In terms of money, the preliminary harvest value of $691 ranks second to the $724 million of 1988, called an “outlier” season by salmon managers. They also predict that once all post season bonuses and price adjustments are determined by salmon processors, the 2013 season could be the most valuable salmo...