An Alaska gillnetter struggling to survive/Flickr
The problems for Alaska’s commercial fishing industry – once the state’s largest employer but now second to tourism – are growing by the day.
Seafood News today reported the lastest survey by Changing Tastes – a Massachusetts-based consultancy that analyzes market trends for the Culinary Institute of America, Chick-fil-a and many others– shows American consumers “have no strong established preference for farmed or wild fish.”
Alaska salmon are returning to their natal streams in numbers never before witnessed in the north. The catch this year topped 200 million for a record fourth time in the decade, and the decadal average annual harvest of about 167.5 million is more than three times larger than in 1970s.
The buyers
But the numbers are meaningless if prospective buyers are being led to believe wild fish numbers are falling because of climate change.
And Times readers happen to be a near-perfect fit for the demographic – young, urban, liberal and affluent – to which Alaska has tried to market “wild-caught” salmon as a premium product healthier, environmentally more responsible, and tastier than farmed salmon.
Meanwhile, the environmentally friendly aspect has been under fire from aquaculturists shifting production from ocean net-pens, which when improperly sighted can cause environmental problems, to land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).
This pitch from Superior and even bigger players in the RAS business threatens the position of Alaska salmon as a “premium” product with a premium price, and that in turn leads to serious problems for Alaska salmon processors buying fish in the 49th state.
The 2019 season ended with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in September crowing about how a Bristol Bay fishery with a a “value of $306.5 million of all salmon species ranks first in the history of the fishery and was 248 percent (above) the 20-year average.”
The season looked like nothing but good news until earlier this month when the word finally got out that processors already faced with tough competition from the farmers had over-paid and over-bought sockeye, and are now in financial trouble.
Hardest hit
Regionally, the market problems appear especially large for commercial fishermen in Cook Inlet, where the state Board of Fisheries is now considering shifting some of the salmon harvest from the problem-plagued commercial fishery to a stable sport fishery with growth potential that helps support the state’s booming tourism industry.
Commercial fishermen working the Inlet are certain to continue to harvest most of the fish that return to the big body of water at the doorstep of the state’s largest city for the simple reason that anglers and Alaska-resident-only dipnetters lack the harvest capacity to capture the millions of fish surplus to spawning needs.
But commercial fishermen appear on the verge of losing the chokehold they once held on management decisions. And any shift of catch by the Fish Board, which sets state management policy, would come on top of the other problems already plaguing the Inlet’s commercial fishermen.
A paper authored by the United Cook Inlet Drifters Associaton, the region’s most powerful commercial fishing lobby, says “the absence of the sockeye salmon over 6 pounds has taken Cook Inlet out of the premium market.
On top of that, harvests have been shifting toward August when UCIDA says the “sockeye harvest no longer (is) graded #1. Now it’s mostly #2 and dog-food grades. Annually, the August sockeye component costs the industry in excess of $2 million” in lost revenue.
The good news there is that the demand for salmon-based dog food is growing.
“What makes salmon a great choice for your dog?,” asks Pet Reviews.com.
“Not only is salmon a rich source of animal-based protein, but it also contains an abundance of omega-3 fatty acids. In addition to providing your dog with a concentrated source of energy and lean protein, salmon also supports his skin and coat. The essential fatty acids found in salmon may also help your dog’s body absorb and utilize certain fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. For all of these reasons, you should consider switching your dog to a salmon-based dog food.”
The bad news in this good news is that no one is going to pay premium prices for salmon to be used as dog food. Nor are the Inlet’s commercial fishermen likely to have many fish to sell this year with state salmon managers predicting one of the weakest returns of sockeye in years.
Categories: News
It’s Really great to hear that the rising demand for salmon. But Most Pet owner feed their pets with raw salmon, it may be deadly to dogs.and i want to let more dog owners do not do that .Why Raw Salmon Dangerous Is For Dogs ?
https://www.guidevillage.com/blogs/pet/is-raw-salmon-dangerous-for-dogs-why-no-raw-food-diets-for-pets
Here we go again,Cook inlet and the Kenai Peninsula are becoming overrun with seasonal tourists and the unsustainable dipnet fishery. Over escapement,too many fish getting back into the system, has reduced the once world record size of the Kenai river sockeye. Bad management focused on sport fishing has done the damage,managers worrying about enough fish for the sports has weakened the fish and run year after year from over escapement.Ever since the inception of the dipnet fishery in the 90s things have gone down hill for the Kenai river and it’s giant sockeye. When Alaska has sustainable salmon fisheries, with record harvests,why would Alaska need farms for salmon? They don’t. Cook Inlet commercials use to fish two 12 hour periods two days a week Inlet wide,back then things work for everyone. Now with so many tourists from all over the world hitting the Kenai Peninsula each summer,hundreds of thousands, the State has choked the commercial fishery off, thinking they need to manage for this lucrative tourist industry. It doesn’t work very well with that kind of management, the proof is smaller fish and less of them. if the State wants to bring up the quality and size of Inlet Sockeye they need to let the commercial fishermen fish Inlet wide from the start to the end of the season, two days a week,is that asking too much? not later when the sockeye are of less quality and the silvers are running.
This would explain the general decline in size of sockeye throughout the eastern North Pacific sockeye exactly how? And if you are worried about over-escapement, wouldn’t you want more fish, not fewer, caught in the dipnet fishery to keep them from over-escaping?
Tom,with all due respect as a former commercial fisherman, if you have to beg for 2 days,ughm,thats not really a position of strength.
You’ve got conflict from Alitak Bay to Susitna river,does that seem like its really going to have a fair conclusion to the Inlet fisherman?
Only record sockeye harvest are B.B,and they really are the cap price wise statewide for wild/semi wild runs, and LESS QUALITY.
It certainly affects my decades long friends on the South End.
Its a race to the bottom, and many just dont want to face the music.
If you live in King Cove ,Sand Point, or Dillingham etc,what else are you
going to do ?
But UCI is like a multi vehicle pileup on the glenn, just alot slower.
I’d be getting my sh*t in order if I was you,Outside of something to do,I always avoided commercial salmon fishing as a sport, just to up and down.
At least for the 23 yrs that I was a hook and line fisherman.
So how long will Alaska cling to a ban on fish farming? Probably until the last commercial fisherman hangs-up his net and sells his boat. The Alaska ban on fish farming is reminiscent of the opposition to Uber and Lyft by the entrenched taxi industry.
Ag,assuming the repubs decide we can determine the the fate of our own $’s.If its not apart of multi state powerball,its pretty much a non starter.
Oh by the way 69degs in antartica yest
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/02/ross-ice-shelf-bore-antarctica-freezing/
Bryan,
Don’t take my word for it..I know,Tom Brennan,well known liberal shill 😀
If you dig around with just the most minimal effort,you’ll see that The Leaders of Industry recognize that something must change or be done.
Regardless of who is to blame,or not,whether you believe it will do any good or not,change is coming from the inside out.The Pols of one stripe will be the last to jump on board.
https://www.frontiersman.com/opinions/tide-changes-on-warming-climate/article_0b1171a2-4f12-11ea-800f-c3a5ac0411c3.html
Fair enough Dave Mc, but how will or when will we know we have defeated “Global Warming”? I mean, the climate changes ever 3 months so that is a given. Since Co2 levels are the same today as 3 million years ago, when will mankind know it has been spared from the “climate crisis”? $20 trillion, $60 trillion, or $90 trillion spent?
Great film!! What Alaska needs is a famous chef with a TV show that touts the advantages of the wild salmon over the farm raised and the abundance of the wild salmon to refute the false perceptions. Also great recipes for salmon would be good too. Did anyone ever check out the show that selected the farm raised salmon over the wild. Could it have been fixed????? I bought Alaska wild salmon last week all the way down here in Louisiana and there was nothing tastier. Loved it!!! Baked it with lemons, red onions, dill, sea salt, and Cajun seasonings. Yum!!! Keep up the great stories Craig and all the great comments everyone. I truly enjoy them.
Patricia
And one wonders why we say Global Warming bs.
The lies, the lies..
“The latter belief is not at good thing at a time when the New York Times is suggesting Alaska wild salmon are threatened by global warming even if at his time the situation is just the opposite.
Alaska salmon are returning to their natal streams in numbers never before witnessed in the north. The catch this year topped 200 million for a record fourth time in the decade”
For once I am going to quote Barrackus Obamus – ” the good times are behind us”. Parties over folks.
1. Gold Rush – check
2. Oil Rush – check
3. Wild Salmon fad – check
Anybody in favor of Disney World Anchorage???
If Dunleavy gets his way, AK turns into Monaco North. Imagine that, a new industry that is not resource extraction, does not require an income tax or theft of the PFD. Now if you can marry up the gambling touristas with a half-day / full day fishing trip, you will have something. Cheers –