Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's commercial salmon season opened over the weekend with four fishing vessels seeking pinks in Unalaska and Makushin bays. The area has opened to commercial salmon fishing every year since the early 1980s, but Alaska Department of Fish & Game biologist Forrest Bowers says it's not always fished.

"There's been about two roughly five year periods since 1982 when we haven't had a fishery," he explains. "And that wasn't necessarily because the fishery was closed, that's just because people didn't come out to the area to fish."

He says usually the purse seiners make the long trek to the region if fishing is slow elsewhere on the southern Alaska Peninsula.

Last year, the two vessels fishing in the area caught over 1 million pinks. The number of vessels peaked at 10 in 1994.

The current opening will last until Wednesday and future openings will depend on escapement into McLees Lake and aerial surveys.

"Once we reach escapement goals, the fishery will be open on nearly a continuous basis," Bowers says. "But typically with pink salmon, as the run diminishes or the fish move into the more near shore areas, the quality of the fish decreases."

This year, the boats will sell to Westward, Trident, and Peter Pan.