Here are a couple of interesting notes out of Washington, D.C.
• Congress has passed a giant appropriations bill that includes $75 million for fisheries disaster relief in several states including Alaska. Federal officials in 2012 declared a disaster in Alaska due to poor Chinook salmon returns to the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, as well as Cook Inlet. It's not yet clear how much of the $75 million Alaska will receive, or how the money will be spent.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced it will buy canned pink salmon again this year. That's good news for Alaska's salmon industry, which faces a big challenge in marketing last year's record catch of more than 215 million pinks. The USDA has purchased as much as $8.4 million worth of canned pink salmon every year since 2011 for use in food aid programs. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently made a $20 million buying commitment.
I struggle to understand how the price of pink salmon maintained at around .40 per pound, when a tidal wave of pink salmon, in both SE and PWS, crashed into the market place. In normal markets the price would have plunged. Help me out here.
ReplyDeleteTo the extent that the processors are suffering from too much inventory and its associated cost, could some of the problem been self-inflicted?
We know one thing for sure it is not going to be .40$/lb next year.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in how much of that unwanted government intrusion the current admin will reject?
ReplyDeleteThe price held up last year because Russia didn't come in nearly as large as expected. What is your guess for this year?
ReplyDeleteIt is strange to me how Federal Investigators are activated to investigate how the Governor of New Jersey withheld federal disaster funds to racketeer locals into approving projects for his campaign donors... But there is no interest in determining how past federal fisheries disaster payouts were administered in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this time they intend to follow the money. But I doubt it.