This year's Alaska commercial salmon catch exceeded 263 million fish, the second-highest total ever.
But the estimated ex-vessel value, at $414 million, was something of a disappointment.
The numbers are included in this press release from the Department of Fish and Game.
Last year's catch of less than 157 million salmon paid almost $577 million.
Sharecroppers!
ReplyDeleteIt really hurts to have the price slashed on Pinks to 18 cents from 35 cents. Along with the obvious drop in Bristol Bay fish. Some obvious supply and demand issues, but I was in a fish Market On the east coast recently and noticed farm atlantics for $10 per lb. so Maybe the Market is there and the obvious problem is that we have no Unity or negotiating ability and they know we will fish for whatever they offer a sad state of affairs for sure.
ReplyDeleteA seiner complaining?
ReplyDeleteRight now Bristol Bay sockeyes, 4-6 Lb. H&G are $2.50 FOB Seattle.
ReplyDeleteThat's what the major buyers are getting. The market for sockeyes is horrible.
Do you see any extra money there that could be had by unity and better negotiating? You got .65 cents take home, if any more is coming it won't be much. It's not going to get any better, 2016 BBay run is going to be huge again. Bay drift permits will be below 90 by March. You heard it here first.
If it's this bad why fish in 2016, if canneries don't want our fish why are they preparing for another season, in my time I've seen bad years when fishermen suffer and at the same time companies buying additional processors/canneries, I am not surprised to see this happen again, we should ask adfg not to open up the fishery in Bristol Bay until we see a posted price accepted by fishermen, definitely the time has come to act ASAP!!
DeleteYup, and the company that only produced only high quality fillet product is sold out at a decent price. Until we stop harvesting and delivering poor quality product that the majors shove in a 1 lb tall with all the skin and bones it's never gonna get better. Our harvest needs to be 100% refrigerated and the processing community needs to upgrade technology to produce good product that the consuming public wants. You deliver s*!t, you produce s*!t, you're gonna get paid s!*t.
ReplyDelete4:08 AM is correct. There shouldn't be a boat out there without a first class RSW system. If you cant afford it, you shouldn't be in the business. And on the processing side, there needs to be capital deployed to produce good quality product in high volumes and at efficient costs. Look at some of these dumps that pass for food processing plants and ask yourself just how much investment has your processor made.
ReplyDeleteI concur with the last 2 statements, It seems the fisherman are going broke and the processors open more and more. It should be a chilled and bled product that can be used as a fresh market fillet product or fresh frozen fillets. get away from the 1 lb tall with bones and skin, nobody wants that. And yes it is a sad state of affairs as g out of the stands. I am getting out of the bay and going to get into PWS gillnet where they know how to take care of there fish and how to Market them . Those permits will hold their value
ReplyDeleteAbout 50% of the fleet deliver RSW or ice chilled fish today, back in the day there was zero chilled fish and we got payed better on a similar big run as 2015 in the bay, the way I see it, if you equip 100% of the fleet with RSW the buyers are NOT going to pay you more even if you deliver the premium product, they can get away with anything in Bristol Bay and they're not scared because the price fixing suite didn't work for fishermen in the 90's and the state's law to post the price is ignored.
ReplyDeleteYou idiots putting down the one pound tall don't understand shit about the salmon market. can salmon is a good product and the skin and bones have high nutritional value. Go buy a can and make a sandwich and tell us iit's a bad product. Price per pound of the can in a store is higher than a fellet when you look at recovery rate and cost. Please know what your talking about before you post.
ReplyDeletelets all sell out to Pebble mine and let the proesors go to hell
ReplyDelete732 pm,
ReplyDeleteIf the 1 lb tall is such a great product why did Icicle and PP fire sale 30 million dollars worth to the USDA for $31/ case to clear out inventory. The global market for canned skin and bones is shrinking. You are still reading ASMI bullshit about nutritional benefits of the aforementioned skin and bones. Our grounds price is 50cents. My friends at LC will likely see over a buck for those worthless fillets. ( spelled correctly ). Whose the idiot?
You bb guys are ridiculous. Give it up, no one cares.. it was a tough salmon year for a lot of guys across the state.. also everyone is getting jewed by the processors.
ReplyDeleteRoughly 115,000,000 households in the USA.
ReplyDelete37,000,000 BBay catch.
Flooded market?
Can't sell 1/3 of a sockeye per household? Good job ASMI .
26 grades of canned salmon 5:23, never mention those higher grades that Peter Pan and Icicle's fleets never meet, with their antiquated boats, processing lines, and marketing systems.
ReplyDeleteAny person knows that the USDA only buys at the bottom, both in quality, and in quantity.
When our local fishers go to Petersburg, they can buy salmon at the commissary. USDA approved.
Why do you think the Seiners, love the USDA? It matches the exact same grade that you eat at Silver Bay, Trident, AGS, Peter Pan, Icicle, and all the other company mess halls.
You train your kids to eat it at School too!
Prison Food, USDA Approved!
https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/pet/
USDA APPROVED!
ReplyDeleteFish Pink Salmon 6 oz. $2.70?
https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/pet/PEX_CommList.pdf
Ya, maybe better value, and bones are great for calcium , but show me a middle America housewife that is happy to see skin and bones when she opens the can, for many it will be the last one they buy, as opposed to a nice clean product that they want. I think Alaskans know, and long time fisherman know, but middle America will be sitting there trying to pick out every bone and piece of skin out of it before they make their salmon patties , and the whole while feeling like they were cheated by including a bunch of bones and skin. What happens when consumers feel cheated?
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable that the Bay still has a high percentage of unchilled fish or improperly chilled fish. Not to mention the set net fish, a good percentage of which lays in the mud. And you expect a premium price?
ReplyDeleteAnd then you have the processors. The Bay is the last bastion of the cannery mentality and that is exactly what stifles creative thinking and investment. Lowerance came in and showed them how to do it. Who followed? None. Can't disrupt their comfy lifestyle. You could guess that LC Will revert slowly to the mediocrity of the rest. They are happy Lowerance is gone and hope SB will fail as well.
Muddy set net fish is a thing of the past. I deliver 2-3 times in a tide and deliver beautiful glistening salmon thats still flopping. I ice while I can, but the canneries would rather my fish sit for an extra hour or two in a tote on the beach to get down to temperature, rather then getting the product to the processing line as fast as possible. They claim it's bad for their machines which is all fine and dandy if that's what they want, but all that work loses its allure for anything less than .75, and I still think that would be selling ourselves short. If you want quality better be ready to pay for it.
DeleteI think your a little off about setnet fish. You may want to check your ideas about it, some of the best quality fish comes from them. The quality of the fish is much improved in bristol bay, just go ask your processor the percentages of No.1's and you may be surprised. Middle America is not the market for canned salmon and never will be, they just want beef and pork fat so they can live up to being the lard asses that they are. All the different product forms have a place, if everyone put all fish in one form that wouldn't work. It's very simple just walk in the store next time and check out the price on canned salmon, it's like 75 cent an ounce. 16 of though's make a pound for our uneducated posters, we do care for this is our livelihood, many of us don't want to just give it up Mr. Shithead commenting racist bastard who posted oct 25 th at 7:37. Statements like that just show how stupid, dumb, uneducated and shithead you are. Please slither back to your cabin in some shit town where you can hideout all winter with 17 cent pinks.
ReplyDeleteMany guys need to get rid of the idea that the processors are screwing them.
ReplyDeleteB Bay H&G red 2-4 Lb. FOB Seattle for $2.15 a Lb !
There is no excess money there to screw you out of.
Plain and simple the market sucks.
Flooded market, strong dollar, farmed fish and other real world reasons.
If you weren't around in 1988 then you missed it :)
2:05 PM is right about the market price of 2 to 4 lb H and G. But these fish need to go into quarter and half lb cans where the market value far exceeds H and G price. But, processors who are stuffing bigger fish into cans are not maxing the value and they are forced to do this due to their lack of past reinvestment in their plants. I wouldn't say they are screwing the fleet, but they sure aren't helping the fleet or themselves,
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if restaurants and small markets mislabeling farmed salmon as wild is part of the problem
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailypress.com/business/tidewater/dp-oceana-study-found-salmon-fraud-in-hampton-roads-other-cities-20151028-story.html
Anonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteMany guys need to get rid of the idea that the processors are screwing them.
B Bay H&G red 2-4 Lb. FOB Seattle for $2.15 a Lb !
There is no excess money there to screw you out of.
Plain and simple the market sucks.
Flooded market, strong dollar, farmed fish and other real world reasons.
If you weren't around in 1988 then you missed it :)
October 27, 2015 at 2:05 PM
Now there is some truth, from the now and the past! EVERYONE was genius in 1988.
Mark Ervice, Homer
such ignorance, bad info and assumptions!!! The USDA purchase of BB sockeye was of 1/2 lb cans, not ! lb talls. If you were interested in the real info you would find out that there were almost NO talls produced this year and that the market is BELOW the price that USDA bought those halves for. You all love being victims so that you dont have to face reality, but the facrts get in the way and you really dont like that. Another fact is that the $1M+ sockeye plan that ASMI has been on since the hege harvest in 2014 has move a huge amount of extra product that would otherwise still be in cold storage. what should be going on is our RSDA cash oughta be partnering with such wildly successful marketing programs instead of sitting idle or any of the other wasted programs the cash is being spent on. Now is the time to spend the cash on expanded and extended marketing to get ready for next year. Come to reality and get it going.
ReplyDeleteIf your are a dissatisfied Bbay fishermen sign the online petition to Commissioner Cotten to get some help from a state mediator. Here is the link:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.change.org/p/sam-cotten-commissioner-of-the-alaska-department-of-fish-and-game-fair-prices-for-bristol-bay-permitholders
Are Bristol Bay Permits Worth $90,000.00
ReplyDelete