Unalaska, AK – With less than two weeks into the season, the salmon run at Cape Wislow had nearly met its minimum escapement goal. As of yesterday 9,331 sockeye salmon have been counted at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service weir at McLees Lake. Counting began June 10 and the minimum goal is 10,000 fish.

The subsistence sockeye fishery at Reese Bay is off to an early start with escapement numbers nearly nine times higher than this time last year. The state escapement target is between 10,000 and 60,000 fish. Last year's escapement was about 32,000 sockeye an improvement over the previous two years which did not break the 10,000 mark triggering closures. Historic highs have ranged around 100,000 fish in the past decade.

Catch effort has been steady in previous days with weir crews reporting higher escapement levels in the evening after the fishery closes. But catch data won't be available until after the end of the season when subsistence permits are returned to Fish and Game.