• The statewide, all-species catch now stands in excess of 145 million fish. Ongoing pink salmon fisheries appear capable of powering us past the preseason forecast of 189.5 million.
• Trident Seafoods, in a fleet letter dated Aug. 5, reported grim conditions in the salmon markets, including "a sharp decrease in wholesale prices across all species." The Seattle-based processing giant said chum markets had "collapsed," and that the company would stop buying salmon in most areas on or about Sept. 1. Trident further said Russia, with a huge pink salmon harvest this year, had "shown a willingness to offload inventory at very low prices in part to fund the war in Ukraine." Trident added: "We haven't seen a collapse in value like this since the 1990s when pinks went well under 10 cents a pound."
• Have state fish cops confirmed the long-suspected practice of "chum chucking" in Area M? Here's an Alaska Beacon article exploring the issue. And here's a press release from the Area M Seiners Association.
From Area M statement:
ReplyDelete"We have reviewed the citation and evidence provided by the State Troopers, which consists of a single gilled fish being cleaned from the net after concluding the final set of the June fishery."
Waste of taxpayer dollars.