Thursday, June 4, 2:23 pm PST
Things are bad, but they have been worse
Longtime Cordova Fishermen Bill Webber recently posted on his blog that
"it is merely getting too late to say the salmon are late in the 2020 early return to the Copper River."
This week is the second in a row that fishermen in Prince William Sound were only allowed one fishing period during the week versus having two.
Despite this year's season ranking somewhere in the bottom 10 of commercial harvests dating back to 1969, it's still better than it was two years ago.
In 2018, the season shut down after three commercial fishing periods, and was the second-lowest harvest recorded over the past 50 years, according to ADF&G's Jeremy Botz.
"This year, we’re definitely seeing a higher harvest in the individual periods," he said compared to what fishermen faced in 2018. "The sonar count is also doing better than 2018 at this point."
The market dynamics, which have continued to drop the price of Copper River salmon at retailers despite a lack of supply, are likely to improve by the July 4 US holiday, added Matthew Davis with Santa Monica Seafood.
"I don’t know that I would call it a failure," he said of this year's season. "It was definitely on the sparse end of the openers I’ve seen over the last 15-20 years but definitely not the worst."
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Wednesday June 3, 2:00 pm PST
Copper River's strange market dynamics don't bode well for Bristol Bay
What goes down, must go even further down?
Copper River prices have continued to stumble despite very low supply, and these bizarre market dynamics are concerning fishermen and buyers alike as it could signal to a lack of consumer interest in all Alaska salmon products this summer.
"Pricing is coming down even though there are very few fish in the market," Mac Paranto, the sustainability manager and buyer with Colorado-based Seattle Fish, told IntraFish. "People aren’t too keen on purchasing a 5-7 pound sockeye for $100.00 (€89.55)."
While the season started off with its typically sky-high retail prices, ADF&G data from Monday's opener shows fishing has so far, been on par with the previous lackluster openers: fishermen
hauled in over 31,000 sockeye, 832 king salmon, and made 412 deliveries.
With Bristol Bay fishing set to be underway in a few weeks, those same dynamics are unlikely to budge.
Some Bristol Bay fishermen are already predicting lower market prices for sockeye due to coronavirus-related challenges as well as a down economy.
"If I had to speak to price or make any sort of guess for this season I would mostly refer to the fact that COVID-19 has caused a lot of instability in the markets as a whole," Bristol Bay Fishermen Tom Rogotzke told IntraFish. "Processors are taking on increased cost for keeping their workers healthy and that cost will most likely be passed on to, or at least shared, with the fishermen."
While it remains unclear how Alaska salmon will compete in a US protein market that has been experiencing moments of "meat shock," he said he remains optimistic.
I'm always hopeful for a fair price and good fishing," he added.
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Tuesday, June 2, 9:45 pm PST
Field hospital set up in Bristol Bay region
The charity organization Samaritan's Purse delivered an emergency field hospital to King Salmon, Alaska, to provide support in Bristol Bay if there is an outbreak of the coronavirus during the upcoming Bristol Bay salmon season.
"I think the fear just from the fishing season if somebody came in and got it into the community, there was just a lot of fear," Reverend Franklin Graham, a North Carolina religious leader who was instrumental in arranging for the field hospital, told
KTVA news.
The facility will handle overflow COVID-19 cases if needed. The community health center in King Salmon has one clinic and a two-bed emergency room.
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Monday, June 1, 1:00 pm PST
Not plenty of fish in the sea
Copper River's Monday opener, which was announced this past Saturday by Alaska fisheries officials, is moving slowly, according to fishermen in the area.
Copper River Fisherman Thea Thomas told IntraFish high winds and rough sees are making it difficult to fish effectively.
"My thought is that the harvest will be smaller for both reds and kings for this opener," she said.
A lack of product is not preventing retailers from reducing prices, QFC's Adam Branin told IntraFish.
"Costs are still high, but we are reducing our retail to $29.99/lb (€26.97/lb) on sockeye just to get it moving, as it’s not selling as quickly as we’d like," he said.
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Monday, June 1, 10 am PST
Bristol Bay season begins
Amid increasing news of
coronavirus outbreaks in Alaska and throughout the seafood industry, the state's Bristol Bay Ugashik District opened to commercial fishing. The announcement is a bit of a soft opening for the fishery, longtime Bristol Bay Fisherman Michael Jackson, told IntraFish.
For the past fifteen years Jackson has sold his fish through his own company Fall Line Fisheries, and also sells to Trident Seafoods.
He said the season usually begins around June 15. More than half of all the sockeye caught globally come out of Bristol Bay.
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Wednesday, May 27 1:22 pm PST
Sockeye soar in latest fish count, but season remains on shaky ground
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) has not announced another opener, but said it anticipates the next one being Monday, June 1. The catch reported from the May 25 opener was a meager 1,470 kings. The news for sockeye was much better, with 33,750 fish harvested.
That amount for sockeye, while seven times the amount caught in the second fishing period, is only a little more than half of what the state agency projected would be 60,050 sockeye salmon harvested by this time. ADF&G reported there were 448 deliveries from the Monday opener, which should provide some relief to weary buyers.
Unfortunately, the run will not provide enough supply to relieve high prices for sockeye, with US retailers and restaurants still asking for around $30.00 (€27.37) to $40.00 (€36.50) per pound for the salmon.
