The Alaska salmon calendar

Alaska's commercial salmon season runs from the Copper River opener in mid-May to the coho fishing of fall, and the stretch that matters most is Bristol Bay's sockeye peak in late June and early July. That is when the scoreboard fills fastest. The season is really a relay of fisheries handing off down the calendar, each region taking its turn as its run arrives, so fresh Alaska salmon is on the market from spring into the fall.

May: Copper River starts the season

The season opens on the Copper River, in the Prince William Sound area, in the back half of May. In 2026 the Copper River district's drift gillnet fleet ran its first period on May 22. The catch is small next to what comes later, a few hundred thousand sockeye and some kings, but it carries an outsized reputation, because Copper River fish are the first fresh wild Alaska salmon of the year to reach the market and they set the early tone on price. Watch the Copper River opener as the starting gun, not as a big number.

June and July: Bristol Bay runs

The engine of the season is Bristol Bay, and it runs in a hurry. The bay's sockeye return concentrates into late June and the first half of July, and the bulk of the harvest is often taken in a frantic five to seven days around the Fourth of July. Bristol Bay is the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, and when it is going the statewide scoreboard climbs almost vertically. If you track one thing in July, track the bay.

Late summer: pinks and chum in Southeast and Kodiak

As Bristol Bay winds down, the volume shifts to pink and chum salmon in Southeast, Prince William Sound, Kodiak and along the Alaska Peninsula. These are the fish that drive the season's total count, many of them hatchery returns, and they run through late summer. A big pink year shows up here, in the second half of the season, well after the sockeye money has largely been made. This is where the fish-count story and the value story pull apart.

Fall: coho close it out

Coho, the silvers, are the closers. They run into September and, in places, October, a late premium fishery that fills the back of the season after the big-volume runs are done. By the time the coho taper off, the season is near statistical week 40 and the Blue Sheet goes quiet until spring.

Watch it build

The chart above is the season assembling itself in order. The gentle early rise is Copper River and the first sockeye. The steep climb is Bristol Bay in July. The longer, lower tail is the pink, chum and coho fishing of late summer and fall. Where the line is steepest is where the fish are running hardest right now.

For why the season is measured by stat week rather than date, see what is a statistical week, and for the fishery that dominates July, see the Bristol Bay page. Dates here follow ADF&G's in-season announcements and shift year to year with the run.