As Alaska’s salmon season gets underway, reports of higher catches are not depressing prices on the open market.
The world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, Bristol Bay, has already topped its annual forecasted catch of 27 million fish, and more are still being caught, according to local reports from 17 July, with the total run in Bristol Bay expected to surpass 50 million salmon.
KDLG, a radio station in Dillingham, Alaska, confirmed in a 16 July report that Trident Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, and at least one other buyer in Togiak are paying USD 1.00 (EUR 0.87) per pound for sockeye from Bristol Bay this year, with prices ranging up to USD 1.25 (EUR 1.09) per for premium chilled, floated, and bled sockeye.
In Kodiak, sockeye salmon have fetched even higher prices, with buyers paying USD 1.40 (EUR 1.22) for bled-and chilled fish, compared to USD 0.96 (EUR 0.83) last year, according to Alaska Dispatch News.
Fishermen working the four-day troll-catch fishery in Southeast Alaska in early July were receiving USD 7.00 (EUR 6.10) per pound for their catch, up from last year’s average price of USD 5.00 (EUR 4.36). The trollers are now fishing for coho salmon, for which they are earning USD 1.40 (EUR 1.22) per pound.
The chum, or keta salmon market, is also strong, with buyers in Kodiak paying an average of USD 0.55 (EUR 0.48) per pound, up from USD 0.29 (EUR 0.25) last year. Fishermen in other areas of southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound were receiving as much as USD 0.80 (EUR 0.70) per pound, compared to USD 0.25 (EUR 0.22) last year. Prices apparently haven’t been affected by high volumes of supply, with gillnetters recording a haul of almost five times as many chum salmon this year compared to 2016.
For pink salmon, per-pound prices ranged from USD 0.35 to (EUR 0.31) for bled and chilled fish, up from an average of USD 0.20 (EUR 0.17) last year.
Salmon roe, primarily sold to the Japanese market, is being purchased for USD 30.00 to 35.00 (EUR 26.13 to 30.49) per pound, the highest prices in more than 30 years, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.
