Posted on 08/30/2023 7:45:47 AM PDT by Chuckster
Before the salmon season, harbors like this one in Dillingham were filled with boats and crews anticipating another large season. (Brian Venua/KMXT)
Kodiak fisherman Mike Friccero has fished for salmon for over four decades. He said he was expecting a low price for Bristol Bay salmon this summer, but didn’t think rumors were true about how low it would drop.
“Our processor gave us a letter, a narrative before the season started, saying that pricing conditions weren’t great but that they were going to go after it with all the resources that they utilized last year as far as tendering and logistics and resources in general,” he said. “And they asked if we would do the same.”
It’s been a tough year for commercial salmon fishermen. Three years of huge returns in Bristol Bay created a surplus of sockeye in the market. Towards the end of the season, processors announced a base price of just 50 cents per pound – the lowest price in decades, when adjusted for inflation.
Fishermen can get bonuses for better quality, but Friccero said even with the boost, he was better off gearing up to fish for other species like halibut.
“If you’re catching 5,000 pounds and you’re thinking 80 cents, then your crew’s share might be $400,” he said. “Well that’s worth doing for folks, but once it drops into the lower figures, if you have crew that have talent, they’ve got other things they want to get over to.”
Friccero said he usually leaves shortly after the peak anyway, but he wasn’t the only one packing up before August.
The Bristol Bay base price for sockeye was one of the lowest prices for Alaskan salmon in recent history. Since then, Trident has dropped their price for chum down to just 20 cents per pound in response to massive harvests in Russia and announced they will stop buying salmon from most communities in Alaska, starting Sept. 1.
Fishermen across the state are wondering how long the low salmon prices will last. Some are even considering selling their boats.
Gunnar Knapp is an economist who specializes in the state’s fisheries. He said for the sake of both fishermen and processors, he hopes that this is just a one-year blip instead of the beginning of a long term pattern.
“To get the lowest price you’ve ever gotten while you’re working just as hard as you ever did, and other expenses like fuel have gone up – it puts fishermen in a really tough position,” Knapp said. “I think processors would also say that they’re in a really tough position and their companies are on the line.”
Knapp was visiting family in Maryland when he saw in retail stores that wild caught seafood is now selling for the same price as farmed fish. He said he’s not surprised but still disappointed knowing the amount of work processors and fishermen do to produce high quality products.
“I was in a local Costco yesterday, and I saw in that Costco, farmed Atlantic filets from Chile and farmed Atalntic filets from Norway and wild Alaska sockeye all selling for $10.99 a pound,” he said.
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is funded by the State Legislature to stir demand for Alaskan products. Greg Smith, the institute’s communications director, said there just isn’t enough demand to keep up with the glut of fish.
“There’s difficult issues in the global marketplace – inflation, increased cost of living, shipping costs, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so there are just significant challenges,” he said.
Fishermen started the season with some processors still holding frozen product from last year’s harvest.
The seafood marketing institute received an extra $5 million in funding this year to better compete in global markets. But even with extra funding, staff are unsure if their short-term efforts like retail displays and working with food writers will help much. Smith said one of the institute’s bigger projects is investing in new markets across the globe.
“We’re focusing on emerging markets, Latin America, parts of Africa, we’re doing some things in Israel but it is just really trying to build off the strength of the brand,” Smith said.
Smith said they’ve had some success with retail and restaurants, and even worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include salmon in purchases for school lunches and food banks. Alaska’s senators also brought the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture committee to Kodiak to make the case that fishermen should be included in the upcoming farm bill.
Friccero said with lower salmon prices, he’s able to keep a decent paycheck but will have to be wary of his budget for next year. He said he hopes market conditions improve over the winter.
The low prices this year has pushed several fishermen to call for better transparency from processors. Friccero said a guaranteed minimum price would be the best possible starting point to build more trust.
“Looking for transparency, anything would improve it right – because there’s almost none,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re being mistreated in any way, it’s just very hard to have a conversation with no information.”
Regardless, Friccero said he’ll be back to fish more next year.
Our cats love Salmon and now they can have MORE ,LOL
Middle men. Of course fish need to be processed to reach point-of-sale, but that does not explain the very large discrepancy between these numbers. Middlemen become entities which become top heavy with management which sees themselves as the most important part of the chain.
The most important parts of any chain is the producer / farmer / fisher and the consumer.
Some curiosity is in order....
StarKist Tuna is a brand of tuna produced by StarKist Co., an American company formerly based in Pittsburgh's North Shore that is now wholly owned by Dongwon Industries of South Korea. It was purchased by Dongwon from the American food manufacturer Del Monte Foods on June 24, 2008, for slightly more than $300 million. In 2021, the headquarters were moved to Reston, Virginia.From Chilean aquaculture and more, there is competition aplenty. Middle men everywhere.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarKist
One finds ..."the average a Dongwon Ga salary in the United States is $57,032 per year," while Kim Jae-Chul is doing quite well. $2.5B well (2016) and among Korea's 50 Richest Net Worth.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/profile/kim-jae-chul/?sh=6547dc013b72
In the 1950's, we ate a lot of salmon cakes made from canned salmon, which was probably similar to the salmon loaf you had. This was usually a lunch meal. I liked them, but not nearly as well as salmon steaks, which I first encountered when I was an adult.
My sis sent me some frozen wild caught salmon and some smoked salmon
I’ll eat the smoked stuff, cats will likely get the rest
Salmon really doesn’t do it for me.
We used to have salmon all the time, but it got too expensive. We might have to see where the store prices are now.
Thanks!
Pink salmon is Dogfood in Alaska, lolololol
Is this only about Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon ? The run has been slowing for the last month. Suppliers are dropping frozen fillets as well although it hasn’t shown up in prices that are still 15$/lb. Fortunately there is still Orca Bay...for now. :(
DO NOT EAT THE TILAPIA!
I am surprised that the price at the store has not dropped too.
I always try to buy US caught Sockeye Salmon. It was still over $10/pound last week here in NH. I realize there is processing and freight to get it here. However, I would think it should be under $5/pound.
The price of lobster here in the supermarkets is roughly double what the fishermen gets per pound over on the coast. IF there is such a glut of salmon, you would think the retail price would be a lot cheaper.
Well, someone figured out how supply and demand and opportunity cost form a natural feedback loop.
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Fishermen are not as bad off as farmers. If the price is too low you just throttle back your fishing efforts until you strike a satisfactory medium. The more fish that are uncaught hopefully will translate into more fish later. With a farmer, grain prices usually fall at harvest time, but the farmer has to harvest the grain or it will spoil in the fields. The only alternative the farmer has is to pay the middleman a storage fee in hopes the price will go up and he can later let the grain go to market.
Lucky I live in Alaska! I can fish 15 minutes from my front door!
Pink salmon is for tourists and children to learn on, but it is really only good for dog food!
FYI Norway has embraced salmon farming in a big way. It has killed off the wild populations through disease and genetic problems.
Don’t fall for the hype! The farmed stuff is junk! Don’t eat it!
Same experience. Lots of salmon patty, salmon casserole. No actual salmon filet until on my own (and was still pricey for regular budget). I long for the 50s-even canned salmon!
My cousin used to fish out of Dillingham. He was Harbormaster for a while.
Re: fish....If I didn’t catch it, I don’t eat it.
I like the tag line!!
And we avoid farm-raised fish.
Is tilapia garbage fish in general or garbage fish because it’s farm raised?
Of course their sled dogs are more important than mere pets
Historical note: Tilapia was farmed in ancient Egypt and in the Roman empire. It was plentiful in the Sea of Galilee, appearing to be the fish referenced in the Gospel, used to feed the five thousand by Jesus.
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