The state is forecasting a strong harvest of 43 million pink salmon next year in Southeast Alaska.
That would be a big rebound from this year's poor catch of 18.3 million pinks in Southeast.
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About me
- Deckboss
- I'm a journalist covering Alaska's commercial fishing industry. My real name is Wesley Loy. Reach me at wloy61@gmail.com.
17 comments:
Hey...where you been? Good to see a post. Probably that forecast will be right on. SE is one thing. My real hope is that PWS doesn't come in huge again for everyone's sake. After this year and 2015 we might need to ask some serious questions about the wisdom of growing all those PWS fish. We need a better price and we need to find out what those huge numbers in the gulf do to the subsequent return. Research is starting to look into it as a correlation to the disaster of this year.
The market alone is enough to make a case against over production of hatchery fish in "wild" Alaska. But if it is potentially a factor in this historic low return than it's Hyooge.
Go vote!
Those are not wild fish November 8, in any sense, of any definition, in any dictionary.
Ever read the Oxford brand? "Not Propagated?"
"The point is, you can never be too greedy."
Donald Trump
at 1:46, did you not realize that Southeast and Kodiak both have Hatcheries that produce fish. Overall market should be good next year.
We might even get a boost if the Russian embargo is lifted.
7:25 ever read a sentence and get the meaning right?
10:43
PWS is and order of magnitude bigger in hatchery pink production than Kod, and SE. I didn't say we they shouldnt grow any. Some of 'em I'd be happy with. 100 million return is too many to catch, and it's too many to have out there in the gulf without fully understanding the effects.
Hey, it doesn't even help the guys who catch them. Average it out and less might be more.
The hatcheries have become an industry of themselves. They support employees, service providers, equipment suppliers, shippers, management, bureaucrats... That is a lot of people that are behind keeping the system going, despite the original intent of supporting the fisherman. Their have been years where most of the returns were caught as cost recovery. In Kodiak, the state actually did a cost recovery effort on a wild river, Ayakulik.
Their should be a statewide mandate to scale back the cost spent on the hatcheries to some optimum level. Its just too much now, and managing them piece meal by area isn't effective.
this blame the hatcheries thing is getting pretty old. I know you really feel like it's the problem but feelings aren't facts.
When it comes to price, Russia produces more pinks then all of alaska, many from hatcheries. The relatively small amount of pinks produced in pws is not flooding the market. What about 2013? record returns for pinks and best price we have seen in years.
Ocean conditions are the culprit for poor returns and unless somebody has some actual science linking that to hatchery fish shut up. 2015 all pink salmon runs south of pws failed No friggin way was it these "weak" hatchery pinks out competing Puget sound and Southeast pinks for food in the whole ocean. This year all pink salmon runs failed. maybe it has something to do with the blob, I don't know but all we can do is keep letting go them go up the rivers and releasing fry and hope that things turn around for ocean survivability.
This stupid wishing ill will on other fishermen so your price goes up is not helpful or rational. this sight seems to be a Bunch of arm chair activists blaming others for their inability to make a buck.
hatchery production has been proven to work for the last 30 years. Being anti hatchery and a commercial fisherman is just being a uninformed Jealous hater
During Southeast Alaska seasons 2005 thru 2009 the hatchery-origin share of the pink salmon harvest was 2%. One out of 50 fish - you can look it up. No pink salmon hatcheries have come on line since.
why do I wait to see what my pink price is until PWS numbers come in? Processors told everyone price crash in 2015 was because of PWS production. 2013 had a good price because 2012 production statewide was so low.
It's more than being an uninformed jealous hater.
yeah, price will be better next year...then what?
Oh ya that "huge" return of 43 million fish in 2014 wrecked the market. Stupid , you catch half the fish we don't get twice the price. I know you took a economics class at some point and saw a supply and demand curve so you think you've got it all figured out but global commodity markets have a lot more going on then that. Suggesting pws fishermen shoot themselves in the foot just so you may get a higher price real nice.
I'm just looking in here but I notice some trends. People seem to be responding by their own interests and calling everyone else "stupid" I guess that's the way most issues turn out but...
Nobody said pink prices are a simple supply and demand curve. Yes global commodity markets have a lot going on. Currency exchange is a large part, and the evaporation of the Russian roe market hurt the price. All aside though, one of the largest parts of the market price, is IN FACT inventory. Russian pink production does not compete equally with alaska markets. Most of it stays domestic and quality is lower.
Lets do a large scale study. Lets see, once the cost of hatchery production is figured in, and a supportable base for market effects is added , what the net + or - to the alaska salmon fishery is. Then lets expand the model to include the possibility that huge hatchery releases can diminish wild returns (maybe it doesn't - but we NEED to know) We'll get a best and a worst case scenario and then we can argue what's wrong with the model, not just call people names.
Lets try science and reason. Just a thought.
Now I wonder why anyone wouldn't want to do this? Ha
sorry for the name calling. 9:52 I agree completely. As a pws fisherman if there was some scientific proof showing negative impacts of hatchery fish either economically or environmentally I would be interested to hear it. In the meantime what we have actually seen in pws and Southeast is some of the largest wildstock returns in history... 2013 wasnt that long ago was it?Hatchery production in pws is not a new thing and blaming the recent poor survival rate of pinks on it seems out of line even for anonymous people on the internet.
Can anyone produce figures on how much the hatchery programs cost vs. how much they contribute to the active permit holder income?
If you don't cherry pick a big year, but take 2014 a mediocre year as an example the PWSAC budget was $9 millon roughly. The returns for that year were Chum(WHN) 1.5 millon fish worth $ 6 Millon, Reds (Gk,MBH) 1.55 millon fish worth $13 millon Pinks (AFK,CCH,WHN) 13 millon worth $15 millon so roughly 36 millon dollars. And that's just the price to the fisherman, not the true value of the fish after taking into account tendering, processing, freight and processor profits its probably double that. In a year like 2015 the pinks alone would be worth 100 millon just for the PWSAC part. So yes hatcheries play an important role in many Alaskan fisheries and if they were so detrimental to wild fish why was there a 50 millon wild pink return in 2015 in pws. The wild fish survived as well or better than the hatchery stocks.
Who said there was a 50 million wild return in 2015?
Initial estimate was 28 M catch with 10-12 M escapement in 2015 PWS wild pink return, but some around the department feel like the escapement was more like 20 M. All the streams were absolutely loaded, pinks kept coming in till late September in most systems long after the fleet was done.
And without the welfare system these fleets have been sucking on for decades, what are they going to do in 2017?
"I don't like losers."
Donald Trump
It's going to be bad....
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