Market Report- Salmon

Alaska's summer salmon fishery picks up

By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor

29 June, 2009 - Lower-than-anticipated landings of Copper River kings are keeping prices of the coveted fish up. Through June 9, the harvest totaled just 7,668 fish, compared to a five-year average of 23,684 fish. In the Lower 48 in mid-June, chefs and retailers paid up to USD 12.50 (EUR 8.87) a pound for fresh whole fish, compared to less than USD 12 (EUR 8.52) a year ago.

In terms of volume, Copper River kings represent a tiny percentage of Alaska's summer salmon  fishery. Higher-than-expected landings of Copper River sockeye kept prices down. Through June 9, the harvest reached 563,990 fish, on par with the five-year average. Chefs and retailers dropped as little as USD 5.85 (EUR 4.15) a pound for fresh whole sockeyes, compared to USD 7 (EUR 4.97) a year ago.

As expected, prices of Southeast Alaska troll-caught kings fell gradually as spring progressed. By mid-June, fresh whole fish were fetching as little as USD 5 (EUR 3.55) a pound, compared to USD 7 (EUR 4.97) a year ago. By mid June, 410 fishermen had harvested nearly 13,000 fish. Southeast Alaska's spring troll fishery ran through June 30.

Southeast Alaska's purse-seine pink fishery is forecasted to go gangbusters, with a catch of 41 million fish this year, versus just 14.3 million fish in 2008.

Meanwhile, the region's drift gillnet fishery is projected to yield 29,000 kings, 265,000 sockeye, 561,000 pinks, 337,000 cohos and almost 2.6 million chums. In mid-June, gillnet-caught pinks brought around USD 1 (0.71) a pound for frozen H&G, while gillnet-caught sockeye commanded USD 2.25 (EUR 1.60) to USD 3.25 (2.31).

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