The Bristol Bay sockeye run broke out of its long malaise, producing a commercial catch of 25.5 million fish. That's the best haul from the bay since 1999, when the catch totaled 26.1 million. Still, the harvest was well short of the Alaska Departmentof Fish and Game's preseason forecast of 34.7 million fish. That was due partly to the run coming in slightly short of the forecast, but more significantly to a lack of processing capacity. The bay's processor ranks have thinned dramatically over the past decade due to competition from foreign aquaculture.
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