Tag Archives: Alaska salmon.
A business in crisis
After years of choking on record runs of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon and near-record runs of heavily farmed, low-value pink salmon, the Alaska fishing industry is in chaos with processors now pleading for more government subsidies and coddled commercial fishermen demanding yet more disaster aid. One could blame global warming, which has led to historically unprecedented harvests of Alaska salmon despite whatever nonsense to the contrary the mainstream media might have reported, but the industry’s problems are far more complex than just trying to sell high-priced seafood in Western markets where the sales of animal protein are dominated by chicken, beef and pork. Some of the industry’s issues here are rooted in its long history. For most of the years after commercial fishing began in Alaska in the late 1800s, the business dealt almost wholly in canned salmon. >>click to read<< 08:41
Net migration: Young commercial fishermen ship out of Cook Inlet
The Cook Inlet salmon fishery was once an economic engine for Kenai. But the fishing there is no longer lucrative. Many fishermen with deep ties to the inlet are retiring, or moving elsewhere. The F/V Nedra E is smaller than the other boats bobbing at the dock in Naknek. Thor Evenson didn’t have Bristol Bay in mind when he designed the boat for his parents, Nikiski homesteaders Jim and Nedra Evenson. Until last year, she’s been a Cook Inlet boat, captained by Jim, then his nephew, and now his grandson, 32-year-old Taylor Evenson. Last year, Taylor couldn’t put it off any longer. So with the help of the boat’s original builder, Kevin Morin of Kasilof, he gutted everything behind the cabin, chopped several inches off bow and stern, and installed a brand new deck, to bring the Nedra E in line with Bristol Bay standards. >click to read< 07:50
Alaska salmon season a success in global market
It was a generally good salmon season for Alaska, except for one species. “It was a disastrous year for chinook harvest.” That’s Andy Wink, a seafood economist with the consulting firm McDowell Group. Wink says while king salmon may be the most famous salmon species among Alaskans, it also makes up the lowest total value of all the different commercial salmon species. “Sockeye, pink salmon, chum salmon, those are the species that for the commercial fleet really move the needle in terms of total value.” click here to read the story 19:25
Permit values plummet for Alaska salmon
Fire sale salmon prices last year and a dim outlook ahead have pushed down the value of fishing permits. A lot of people had disastrous salmon seasons last year, whether it was drift gillnet, permits or seine permits have all declined across the board fairly dramatically. Doug Bowen runs Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. At Alaska’s bellwether fishery at Bristol Bay drift gillnet permits have dropped into the $90,000 range down from $175,000 last spring. And that may have been the bottom, they seem to have come up a bit – firming up at around $97-$98,000 is where they are today. Audio, Read the rest here 18:58
Sensible decision: Walmart agrees to sell Alaska salmon after all – So do we let them off the hook? or beat on ’em?!!
A controversy about labeling Alaska salmon appears to be headed toward a resolution with a sensible decision by Walmart to not reject the sustainable fish supply from the 49th state 
more@newsminer
DEAR JOHN 2.0: Will “concerns” re. hatchery salmon lead to ‘loss of political support’ in Alaska for the ‘wild’/‘enhancement’ strategy?
An open letter to John Sackton, Editor of Seafood.com By Bertrand Charron, Editor of SeafoodIntelligence.com, Dear John, I believe it is high time – since my first ‘Dear John’ editorial of February 2012 – for a ‘Dear John 2.0’, as two of your well-articulated video comments during the past week do warrant praises and rebuttals of sorts [email protected] Lots of links, lots of information here. A lot to think about.
From the Deckboss – A salmon summit in Seattle
For a long while, Alaska and the MSC seemed to be happy partners.
In recent years, however, many players in the Alaska seafood industry have become disenchanted with the MSC, for a variety of reasons.
This also goes for state officials, who apparently aren’t too enthused about current efforts to keep MSC certification going.
A Seattle-based fishing group, the Purse Seine Vessel Owners’ Association, is seeking renewal of the MSC label on behalf of seven Alaska salmon processors led by Sitka-based Silver Bay Seafoods.
