04.11.08
Posted in Friday Fish Forecast at 2:26 pm by Will Ware
Alaska King Salmon is going to be a rather high commodity this year. From California to Washington, cutbacks and fishing seasons are on hold until further notice for this season…with the exception to the Columbia River which is predicted to have a large run this year.
What about Alaska? Alaska will see its own cutbacks this year as well. We are cut over 40% of our Kings for this year as well? Why? While although our catches here in Alaska aren’t salmon that will eventually make their way that far south, the same ocean conditions that are contributing to the lower 48′s decline in salmon numbers, are contributing to a reduction in this years projected return to Alaska. However, there is some good news. Oceanographers (Sp) are assuring State biologists that there is a turn in these ocean conditions that should lead us back to seeing high numbers of salmon returning after this year.
What does that do for the fisherman…they get paid higher dollar amounts for their product, although finding them may prove to be a lot tougher. For the consumer…expect higher prices for the most premium of salmon…the King Salmon.
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04.05.08
Posted in Friday Fish Forecast at 3:54 pm by Will Ware
Well, the inevitable has finally happened. The record high prices of King Salmon has finally begun to fall. Allow me to point out that the price is still higher than they ever were last year. Why the drop? Well, a couple of reasons. First, the Columbia River net fishery went off this week bringing in thousands of pounds into the Northwest market. Second, volumes of winter Kings are hitting the docks here in Alaska…finally.
The Columbia river Kings are nice fish, but nowhere near the quality of our Alaskan troll Kings. Still, having the same species competing with our ours will drive prices down regardless of quality.
The good news is that I don’t think that prices will go down too far too fast. I anticipate that Kings will maintain a higher price all year. So to all our fisherman, stay out there and make us all some money.
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03.21.08
Posted in Friday Fish Forecast at 10:50 am by Seth Scrimsher
2008 is shaping up to be a strange year for Halibut sales. Statewide the quota has been lowered by 7.32%, almost 5 million lbs. Fisherman in the 2c area have had their quota reduced by 27.03%, about 2.3 million of the 5 million lbs. Even though this sizeable cut has been enacted prices are expected to be lower this year as there is still a considerable amount of 2007 product in the freezers. Prices to the fisherman at the dock have already been lowered by $1.00 per lb from the opening push two weeks ago.
The lower prices are being blamed on buyers pushing back against recent high prices. Prices moved from an average of $2.00 a lb 4 years ago to an average of $4.50 a lb in 2007. This year’s pullback in prices has been expected by many fishermen and they have been planning accordingly. It will be a tough year for the fishermen who recently bought their quotas in the $22 to $26 a lb range they have been recently selling for.
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