Amid a Changing Climate, a Record Return of Alaska’s Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon

In a collaborative effort, The Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton and Anchorage Daily News photographers reported from a record-shattering summer sockeye season on Bristol Bay, when more than 72 million sockeye returned from the North Pacific.

They went out with fishermen who bring in the catch on drift gillnet boats, and others who fish with nets stretched out from beach sites. They also traveled to freshwater drainages where these salmon spawn to spend time with scientists whose decades of research has provided insights into why these salmon runs have been so strong, and what challenges lie ahead as the climate warms.