Alaska
Biologists forecast a reduced Alaska commercial salmon harvest
Alaska’s statewide commercial salmon harvest this year is expected to total 125.5 million fish, less than two-thirds of the total landed by commercial harvesters in 2025, according to the annual forecast released last week by state biologists.
The anticipated 2026 total, detailed in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s 2026 forecast and 2025 review, is lower than annual statewide harvests in all but four years since 2000, according to department records.
The lowered expectations for the statewide salmon harvest are driven mostly by anticipated declines in runs of pink salmon, also known as humpback salmon, according to the forecast.
Pink salmon are the most plentiful, smallest and cheapest of Alaska’s five salmon species. They have two-year life cycles, the shortest of all of Alaska’s salmon species. Although there are regional variations, the general pattern for the recent past is alternating big-run and smaller-run years, with 2025 as one of the big-run years.
The year-to-year difference has been significant, said Forrest Bowers, who heads the department’s commercial fishing division.
“We have been seeing a pronounced even-odd year difference in pink salmon returns, with much larger returns in odd-numbered years,” Bowers said by email.
In all, about 197.4 million salmon were harvested commercially last year, 120 million of which were pink salmon, the forecast said. This year, about 60 million pink salmon are expected to be harvested commercially, according to the forecast.
For Alaska’s other four salmon species, the forecast calls for lower total catches as well, with a combined reduction of 11% below the 2025 non-pink salmon total harvest, Bowers said.
That is not considered a precise prediction. There are estimate ranges for different species and locations, which put the anticipated 2026 harvest in the general ballpark of last year’s harvest, except for pink salmon.
“When we consider forecast uncertainty and the distribution of harvests across the state, the forecast for non-pink salmon is fairly similar to the 2025 actual harvest,” Bowers said.
Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, is the second-most plentiful of Alaska’s five species, and the statewide harvest is dominated by Southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay, site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.
That status will continue this year, according to the forest. Bristol Bay’s estimated 2026 harvest for this year is 33.5 million fish, a little over the average over the last 20 years — but smaller than in some recent years, when harvests in that region hit or approached records. Last year’s Bristol Bay sockeye harvest was about 41.2 million fish, a little more than three-quarters of the statewide sockeye harvest.
This year, the statewide sockeye salmon harvest is forecast to total 49.7 million fish, of which about two-thirds are expected to come from Bristol Bay.
The forecast chum salmon commercial harvest this year is 17.2 million fish, compared to 21.7 million last year. This year’s forecast harvest of coho salmon, also known as silver salmon, is 2.4 million fish, compared to 2.7 million harvested last year. This year’s forecast harvest of chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, is 197,000 fish, compared to last year’s total harvest of 201,000 fish.
The department’s forecast details regional differences along with species differences.
In the Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems, salmon runs are expected to continue to be weak, as they have been for the past several years, according to the forecast. There is no commercial fishing anticipated on either of those river systems. The only commercial fishing in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region is expected to be in Norton Sound and in the Kotzebue area, as was the case last year and in other recent years.
The newly released forecast is for commercial harvesting alone. It does not include subsistence or sport harvests. Reports detailing last year’s subsistence harvests are expected to be released in the future, the forecast said.
Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.
ANCHORAGE — Southwest Airlines (WN) has launched its first-ever service to Alaska, beginning seasonal flights to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) from Denver International Airport (DEN) and Harry Reid International Airport (LAS).
The carrier scheduled Anchorage service to begin on May 15, 2026, with once-daily flights through the summer from both Denver and Las Vegas. Southwest’s booking site now markets Anchorage flights, with fares and connecting itineraries visible from multiple U.S. cities.
Southwest adds its 43rd state
Anchorage becomes Southwest’s 122nd airport and brings Alaska into the carrier’s domestic network as its 43rd U.S. state. The airline had announced the move in October 2025, describing Anchorage as one of several new 2026 destinations added as part of a broader network expansion.
The launch follows Southwest’s recent additions of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Knoxville, Tennessee; Sint Maarten; and Santa Rosa/Sonoma County, California. Anchorage is the most geographically distinct of those additions, extending Southwest’s map into a market where air travel is unusually central to state connectivity.
Why anchorage matters
For Alaska, Southwest’s arrival adds another large U.S. carrier at ANC and increases competition on two important Lower 48 corridors. Alaska transportation officials framed the service as a boost for passenger choice, tourism, business travel, and broader state connectivity.
The Denver and Las Vegas launch points are also strategic. Denver gives Southwest a strong inland connecting point to much of its domestic network, while Las Vegas adds another high-volume leisure gateway. Together, the routes allow Southwest to test Alaska demand without immediately entering more crowded West Coast-to-Anchorage markets.
Part of a larger southwest reset
The Anchorage launch comes as Southwest continues to reshape both its network and onboard product. The airline has been rolling out assigned and premium seating, free Wi-Fi for Rapid Rewards members, and in-seat power on Boeing 737-8 aircraft as part of its redesigned cabin strategy.
That context matters. Anchorage is not just a novelty dot on the map; it is part of Southwest’s wider attempt to broaden vacation demand, strengthen connecting relevance, and enter markets that historically sat outside its traditional network profile.
Impacts
For travelers, the immediate impact is simple: Anchorage now has new seasonal nonstop options from Denver and Las Vegas, backed by Southwest’s large connecting network. For ANC, the service adds another national carrier during the peak summer travel window.
For Southwest, Alaska is a symbolic and strategic expansion. The carrier is moving beyond its old domestic playbook, adding more geographically ambitious destinations while modernizing the product around assigned seating, premium options, and loyalty benefits. The real test will be whether Anchorage performs strongly enough to return beyond the initial summer season.
Alaska
‘Minimal fire activity observed’, Firefighters work to put out fire in area burned in 2014 Funny River Fire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Firefighters are battling a human caused fire on the Kenai Peninsula, the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection (DOF) said.
The Killey River Fire was discovered Friday evening, DOF said. A pilot and a boat operator reported it.
“It is burning along the edge of the waterway in the burned area of the 2014 Funny River Fire,” DOF said. The fire “is about 2.25-miles up the Killey River from its confluence with the Kenai River.”
As of Saturday morning, the fire was about 8.2 acres.
“[Precipitation], helicopter bucket drops, and the air tanker slowed the fire and allowed firefighters to cut saw line and build hose lays around the fire,” DOF said Saturday.
In a note from Saturday on the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Situation Dashboard, it said minimal fire activity was observed after firefighters worked “around snags in the old fire scar. The crew engaged to secure the west side of the fire with anticipation of strong gusts from the east.”
Burn permits have been suspended in the Kenai-Kodiak area, as well as the Fairbanks and Delta prevention areas, DOF said.
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