Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) officials hear that processors have mostly cleared out their overflowing inventories of Alaska salmon from the 2022 and 2023 seasons, but the problem remains that Americans don’t buy enough seafood to sustain consistently profitable sales, particularly in years of strong salmon runs.
And while last year’s problem was an oversupplied market, which pushed prices paid to fishermen to as low as 20 cents a pound for pink and chum salmon, this year’s harvest may come up short of a robust supply, Greg Smith, communications director for the state agency, said last week.
Commercial fishermen caught a total of 66.6 million salmon in Southeast Alaska in 2023, including wild runs and hatchery-produced fish, significantly above the region’s 10-year average. While not yet totaled, this year’s numbers are far below that, close to the Department of Fish and Game’s pre-season prediction of less than 39 million.
Statewide, the 2024 salmon harvest (measured by weight) is down from 2023, Smith said. “The issue this year is maybe not enough supply,” he said.
The agency intends to continue promoting Alaska seafood as a wild and sustainable product, “talking about the origin,” Smith said. And rather than high-volume retail sales promotions, which make more sense when there is a glut of supply, ASMI may focus on brand awareness for the next year.
“It’s a delicate balance,” he explained, having enough fish to meet demand and promote new markets, but not so much that it is overwhelming, pushing down prices.
“The U.S. does not eat enough seafood,” Smith said. The agency’s mission is to change that.
Preliminary numbers indicate that salmon prices have rebounded from last year’s dismal lows, with Southeast sockeye nearing the $2-per-pound level of 2022. Headed-and-gutted pinks’ value also increased this summer.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game numbers show that most Southeast pinks sold in a range between 25 cents and 28 cents per pound, moving closer to the 2022 average price of 34 cents.
Chum prices improved this year to around 50 cents per pound in Southeast, but still less than half of the 2022 average of $1.18, according to the department’s preliminary reports.
Low prices and weak runs also hurt the public treasuries in coastal communities.
Besides for money paid to fishermen and their crews, and wages paid to workers at Wrangell’s three seafood processors — Trident Seafoods, Sea Level Seafoods and Peninsula Seafoods — the borough receives half of the state’s collection of a fisheries business tax, also called the “raw fish tax,” on salmon landed in town.
Over the past 10 years, Wrangell’s annual share of the state tax has been as high as almost $400,000 (2016) and has averaged about $250,000 a year — except last year, when it crashed to $54,000, reflecting the low prices paid to commercial fishermen.
The borough estimated it would receive $150,000 this fiscal year, though that was an educated guess on returns and prices when the assembly adopted the budget this spring.
Though the U.S. economy is stabilizing and last year’s high inflation rates, which stifled shoppers ability to fill their carts, are in retreat, consumers are still buying less of the more expensive proteins, such as salmon, and choosing cheaper options, Smith said.
ASMI has about $20 million in its budget this year, with about $12 million allocated to promoting Alaska seafood overseas — the biggest market for the state’s catch — and $8 million for domestic marketing and overhead costs.
All of the agency’s money comes from industry assessments and the federal government; it receives no state funding. The governor this year vetoed a $10 million legislative appropriation for ASMI, saying the agency lacked a plan for spending the money, and could put together a plan and ask for funding next year.
It’s not just salmon markets that are hurting for customers and price, Smith said. Prices are down for pollock, the mainstay for making fish sticks, fish sandwiches and other fast-food seafood. “How do you get people to eat and buy more pollock?”
Herring is another down market for Alaska, Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, said at the annual Southeast Conference convention in Ketchikan last month.
“The Japan market (for herring) has dried up. … We need to find new markets,” he said.
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