Tag Archives: Bristol Bay sockeye salmon
Bristol Bay bust – Bristol Bay salmon prices hit rock bottom
Prices paid commercial fishermen for their catches of wild, Bristol Bay sockeye salmon have just set a modern record low of 50 cents per pound. That’s only three cents per pound less than the average price paid for a Southeast Alaska pink salmon – or humpy as Alaskans usually call the smallest and blandest tasting of the Pacific – in 2018, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game data. With a correction for inflation, that old humpy would now be worth 8 cents more per pound than a Bristol Bay sockeye. The last time the Bay saw anything like this was more than two decades ago when the sockeye price hit 42 cents per pound. Once inflation adjusted, however, those fish had a value of 70 cents per pound – 20 cents more than what Trident Seafoods and other processors are now offering. >click to read< 07:53
2020 Forecast: Bristol Bay still looks bright, but fishermen face cuts in cod, crab and halibut
Judging by the forecasts, 2020 could be an eventful year in Alaska’s commercial fisheries. Even though not all the forecasts and catch limits are rosy, there are some bright spots, such as an increased eastern Bering Sea snow crab total allowable catch and another promising forecast for Bristol Bay sockeye salmon. However, fishermen this winter are looking at tighter limits in some groundfish fisheries, particularly in the Gulf of Alaska. >click to read< 11:50
The failed ban
The coming year marks the 30th anniversary of the state of Alaska’s attempt to control world salmon markets by banning fish farming in the 49th state. It would seem an appropriate time to review what has happened since then: Farmed salmon production, a meager 271,000 tonnes per year at the time of the 1990 ban, has grown to more than 2.2 million tonnes per year – a more than eight-fold increase. Bristol Bay sockeye salmon that spent the late 1980s trading near an average, annual price of $2 per pound ($4.24 per pound in 2019 dollars, according to the federal inflation calculator) is now worth $1.35 per pound or about 32 percent of its pre-ban value , according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game figures. >click to read< 13:00
Commercial fishermen applaud EPA’s peer review process for Bristol Bay assessment; mining and productive salmon stocks do not mix!
“People who are attacking this report aren’t criticizing the science but are trying to use any opportunity to attack the EPA,” said Bob Waldrop, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association. “The agency was invited to Bristol Bay by Alaska Natives, commercial fishermen and others, and EPA is simply fulfilling its duties and responsibilities to live up to the Clean Water Act.” http://www.akbizmag.com/Alaska-Business-Monthly/November-2012/Commercial-fishermen-applaud-EPAs-peer-review-process-for-Bristol-Bay-assessment-Call-on-President-for-swift-action-to-protect-fishery-jobs-and-economy/
