The evidence - huge, silvery 10-pound dog salmon, also called chums - is bulging in their nets in Lynn Canal.

"The chums surprised us. They've filled up the tenders," said Haines gillnetter Norm Hughes June 29.

"It's fine-eating fish," said a pleased Eric Norman, plant manager of downtown Juneau's Taku Fisheries/Smokeries.

While a small clump of cruise ship tourists ogled the totes of fresh chum salmon, dozens of plant workers hovered over Taku's slime line, slicing, gutting and cleaning a tote containing 1,000 pounds of salmon roughly every six minutes.

Roughly 1.3 million hatchery chums are predicted to invade Juneau's Gastineau Channel this summer. Almost as many hatchery chums will arrive at other Douglas Island Pink and Chum, or DIPAC, hatcheries in the vicinity. So far, the DIPAC chums have averaged 10 pounds, larger than the usual 8 pounds, said Eric Presteguard, DIPAC's executive director.

The bumper crop of 4-year-old chums is just one of many early indicators of another strong summer for Southeast Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries, state biologists and seafood plant operators said June 29.

"The signs are for an outstanding summer," Norman said. "Our workers are getting lots of hours."

Another positive indicator: The Panhandle's summer king troll fishery is attracting new permit holders and participation from Lower 48 fishermen who have Alaska troll permits but haven't used them for years, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Brian Lynch, based in Sitka.

Lynch predicted as many as 100 extra troll fishermen in the water this summer - including new permit holders and Lower 48 trollers who suffered in the spring due to federal commercial fishing restrictions.

In addition, southern Panhandle gillnetters will likely run their boats up to Lynn Canal to take advantage of the region's bumper crop of hatchery chums, added Kevin Monagle, Fish and Game's Juneau area commercial fisheries management biologist.

Monagle reported positive signs for the northern Panhandle's pink runs, as well.

During his agency's annual Hawk Inlet test fishery the last week of June, Monagle counted a little more than twice the average number of pink salmon, caught in seine nets.

While most seiners haven't started fishing yet, "We're looking at probably another really strong pink year," Monagle said.

"It's a real good summer for seine and gillnetters both," he added.

Some seiners and gillnetters have begun to catch coho salmon, even though it's early yet for the species' arrival in local waters, Monagle said.

The Taku River sockeye run isn't getting much attention yet, because of the copious chums. The sockeye run size is predicted as average this summer, but so far, the early sockeye catch rates have been pretty poor, Norman said.

At least for now, Norman said, Juneau and Lynn Canal fishermen are focused mainly on chums. The chums are selling for 30 cents per pound in Juneau, an improvement of 5 cents from last year.