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Salmon capture in Alaska. (Photo: Icicle Seafoods)
Alaska's good salmon harvest but lower than expected
UNITED STATES
Monday, October 01, 2012, 01:20 (GMT + 9)
Alaska's 2012 commercial salmon harvest ended up with 123.5 million fish, according to the final preliminary tally.
The forecast capture for the season was 132 million salmon.
The preliminary report includes 66 million humpies, 35.3 million sockeye, 19 million chum, 2.8 million coho and 296,000 chinook or king salmon.
In the Anchorage area, buyers were paying around USD 5.95 a lb for whole sockeye and silver salmon and USD 9.95 a lb for whole chinook salmon. Frozen sockeye fillets were fetching USD 9.95 a lb, along with fresh silver fillets at USD 8.95 a lb, king fillets at USD 15.95 a lb and king steaks for USD 12.95 a lb, The Cordova Times reports.
In the online market, the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle was selling fresh whole wild king salmon at USD 13.99 a lb and fresh wild king salmon fillets at USD 20.99 a lb, plus whole wild coho salmon for USD 8.99 a lb and fresh wild coho salmon fillets for USD 14.99 a lb. The market was out of Alaska sockeye salmon.
With one more week of data to go, the preliminary harvest data as of 14 September indicated the total preliminary Prince William Sound catch to be 26.3 million humpies, 3.7 million sockeye, 3,530 chum, 166,000 silver and 12,000 king salmon.
Of that total, the Copper River section produced 2 million wild salmon, including 1.8 million sockeye (the forecast had been 1.16 million), 103,000 silver (149,700 had been expected), 29,000 chum, 12,000 king and 6,000 humpies.
From the Bering River District, the cumulative coho salmon harvest was about 34,200 fish, higher than the anticipated catch of 21,900 fish.
Alaskan biologists said the cumulative harvest through 12 September for the Coghill and Eschamy districts was 421,900 and 1.28 million sockeye salmon, respectively, and 2.42 million and 279,000 chum salmon, respectively.
The pink salmon harvest in the Coghill district through 12 September was roughly 3.25 million fish, which was lower than originally anticipated.
In the Prince William Sound purse seine fishery, no harvests had been reported since 8 September. That fishery was expected to close on 19 September.
Related article:
- Alaskan governor seeks federal disaster declaration for salmon
By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
Photo Courtesy of FIS Member  Icicle Seafoods Inc. -Headquarter-
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