An estimated 61,000 king smolt left the Chilkat River drainage in 2015, the lowest on record according to new Alaska Department of Fish and Game statistics released this spring.
Those fish were spawned from returning kings in 2013, the third run at the time that failed to meet the department’s escapement goals. In 2014, about 64,000 from brood year 2012 survived their rearing habitat before leaving for the ocean. Between 1999 and 2013, an average…