"Bristol Bay lived up to its reputation as Alaska's salmon powerhouse this year.

While unusually poor returns of sockeye salmon plagued most other Alaskan waterways, state regulators are calling Bristol Bay "one of the bright spots" this season, with 42 million of the 50 million sockeye caught across the state coming from the watershed.

"The runs just started strong and never tapered off," said Forrest Bowers, who runs the Division of Commercial Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Scientists say geography is largely to thank for Bristol Bay's success this summer — an advantage the fishery will likely retain for years to come as climate change continues to increase ocean temperatures around the globe."

Ariel Wittenberg reports for Greenwire October 25, 2018. [2]