Petersburg Pilot -

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it expects Southeast Alaska commercial fishermen next year will harvest around 19 million pink salmon — close to an average number based on 63 years of commercial harvest data collected since Alaska became a state.

The department’s forecast, released in November, predicts a pink salmon catch of between 12 million and 32 million fish.

Pink salmon harvest varies greatly from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and the commercial catch in the 10 most recent even years has averaged 21 million pink salmon. In 2022, fishermen caught about 18.3...