Valdez, Alaska, August 8, 2008—Salmon shortage? Thousands of pink salmon make their way upstream to spawn.

Preliminary data through August 1 indicate just under 23 million pink salmon have been caught this season, which extends into mid-September. The forecast is for 61.5 million pinks.

Ocean conditions appear to be making the overall Alaskan salmon fishery a disappointment this year. "But the jury is still out on the pink salmon harvest," Mike Plotnick, a state fisheries analyst, told the AP news agency.

—John Roach

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