Salmon permit prices on the rebound, including Southeast power troll

Optimism is the word that best sums up the attitude among most Alaska salmon fishermen after a good season, according to people in the business of buying and selling permits and boats.

Most fishermen in major regions ended up with good catches and dock prices were up from recent years. That’s pushed up permit prices, including at the bellwether fishery at Bristol Bay where drift net permits have topped $200,000.

“The highest has been $210,000. But it's a pretty tight market,” said Maddie Lightsey, a broker at Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. “A lot of fishermen had a great year out there and made a lot of money. But buyers are hesitant to pay these really high prices. Many are hoping it's a pretty short spike,” Lightsey said.

“Meanwhile, sellers are holding out for high prices, while at the same time expressing concerns over increased tax burdens if they sell this year following such a good season. Those two things combined have really restricted the market and there haven't been that many sales,” she added.

“There is plenty of interest in Bristol Bay permits and boats, but the permit price is really high so right now there is a lot of talk,” echoed Lisa Gulliford at Permit Master in Tacoma, Washington.

Permit values are published monthly by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission and reflect the average of sale prices over the past three months. They need at least four transactions to calculate an average and some permits don't sell frequently enough to do that, so they have to incorporate sales from prior to three months ago, explained Lightsey.

“But the market changes so quickly that the commission’s permit prices are typically off, either on the high or low side. The value of salmon permits is quite literally whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it!” she added.

Other salmon fisheries also are attracting interest, “which is good news and means that optimism is spreading throughout the fisheries. Permits that have been relatively quiet for a few years are now getting inquiries,” Gulliford said, adding that “troll permits in Southeast are making a comeback.”

Before the summer season, power troll permits were selling in the low $20,000s in Southeast and are now in the $28,000 to $30,000 range. Movement in other Southeast salmon permits, however, is lackluster, Lightsey said.

“Before the season drift permits were selling for around $55,000 and our lowest asking price now is $65,000 but we’ve had no offers,” she said. “On the seine front, we sold a permit for $140,000 after the season ended, which was the first I believe since 2019. It’s a really slow market down there.”

Likewise, permits at Prince William Sound have yet to gain much traction despite a great year for pink salmon.

“A few drift permits have sold in the $110,000 range. No seine permits have sold yet that I'm aware of. And quite a few folks are moving from Prince William Sound seine to Bristol Bay,” Lightsey added.

Lightsey said she hears a lot of concern from fishermen over climate change and salmon bycatch in trawl fisheries, but it’s not enough to deter them from buying permits.

“I think a lot of this new guard of fishermen are young and energetic and incredibly driven and dedicated to sustainability and preserving the future of their industry. Together with the old guard, they're really making a difference. They're writing letters and networking and forming advocacy groups and all those things are coming together and instilling a sense of pride and ownership in their fishery and making them more inclined to invest in it.”

Harbor surveys

Are your local harbor waters clean? Are there sewage pump-outs, restrooms and adequate disposal stations for trash and debris? Do Alaskans even notice or care?

Two quick surveys for boaters and communities aim to find out.

“We want to hear from boat users in the harbors as well as community members. And we'll be doing a survey for harbormasters and harbor staff as well,” said Tav Ammu, a Bristol Bay fisherman and Alaska Sea Grant fellow who is leading the project.

Disposal of sewage, called blackwater, is a top concern, he said. There’s a scarcity or no pump-out stations in most Alaska harbors, and Ammu said many boaters don’t use good disposal practices.

“Probably half of the people I’ve talked to have marine sanitation devices on board, but they just weren't being utilized. That was kind of an “aha” moment for me,” he said. “It's not that people aren't interested or unaware, it's just that they don't have options or they have the capability but they don't use them.”

In the words of one fisherman: “I can tell you that it is obvious that all we are doing is paying lip service to ‘no poo in the blue’ as there is not a single pump station in Bristol Bay, and we pretty much know what 5,500 fishermen are doing every day.”

The harbor surveys will let Alaskans pinpoint problems and offer solutions, which Ammu will discuss at the harbormaster’s conference later this month in Anchorage.

The survey is online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BoatUsers.

Help with halibut

Halibut stakeholders are being asked to weigh in on two important issues: bycatch in the Bering Sea and halibut fishery management.

After six years of discussion, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is poised to require Bering Sea bottom trawlers targeting flatfish abide by the same rules as all other halibut users.

Nineteen Seattle-based bottom trawlers targeting flatfish, called the Amendment 80 fleet and including boats owned by Alaska Native groups, has a fixed cap on halibut bycatch, whereas yearly catches for commercial, sport, charter and subsistence fishermen fluctuate according to the health of the stock.

The public is asked to send written comments on the NPFMC plan to rein in the halibut bycatch through Oct. 25.

Ideas for new or amended proposals are invited by the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The IPHC oversees the biology of the stock for the West Coast, British Columbia and Alaska, and sets annual halibut catch limits. An example of a new regulation saw this year’s halibut fishery extended by one month to Dec. 7.

The IPHC will give a first glimpse of possible catches for 2022 at its interim meeting, held electronically Nov. 30 and Dec. The annual meeting is set for Jan. 24-28 in Seattle.