Posted on 08/29/2023 6:17:09 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Kodiak fisherman Mike Friccero has fished for salmon for over four decades. He said he was expecting a low price for Bristol Bay salmon this summer, but didn’t think rumors were true about how low it would drop.
“Our processor gave us a letter, a narrative before the season started, saying that pricing conditions weren’t great but that they were going to go after it with all the resources that they utilized last year as far as tendering and logistics and resources in general,” he said. “And they asked if we would do the same.”
It’s been a tough year for commercial salmon fishermen. Three years of huge returns in Bristol Bay created a surplus of sockeye in the market. Towards the end of the season, processors announced a base price of just 50 cents per pound – the lowest price in decades, when adjusted for inflation.
Fishermen can get bonuses for better quality, but Friccero said even with the boost, he was better off gearing up to fish for other species like halibut.
“If you’re catching 5,000 pounds and you’re thinking 80 cents, then your crew’s share might be $400,” he said. “Well that’s worth doing for folks, but once it drops into the lower figures, if you have crew that have talent, they’ve got other things they want to get over to.”
Friccero said he usually leaves shortly after the peak anyway, but he wasn’t the only one packing up before August.
The Bristol Bay base price for sockeye was one of the lowest prices for Alaskan salmon in recent history. Since then, Trident has dropped their price for chum down to just 20 cents per pound in response to massive harvests in Russia and announced they will stop buying salmon from most communities in Alaska, starting Sept. 1.
Fishermen across the state are wondering how long the low salmon prices will last. Some are even considering selling their boats.
Gunnar Knapp is an economist who specializes in the state’s fisheries. He said for the sake of both fishermen and processors, he hopes that this is just a one-year blip instead of the beginning of a long term pattern.
“To get the lowest price you’ve ever gotten while you’re working just as hard as you ever did, and other expenses like fuel have gone up – it puts fishermen in a really tough position,” Knapp said. “I think processors would also say that they’re in a really tough position and their companies are on the line.”
Knapp was visiting family in Maryland when he saw in retail stores that wild caught seafood is now selling for the same price as farmed fish. He said he’s not surprised but still disappointed knowing the amount of work processors and fishermen do to produce high quality products.
“I was in a local Costco yesterday, and I saw in that Costco, farmed Atlantic filets from Chile and farmed Atalntic filets from Norway and wild Alaska sockeye all selling for $10.99 a pound,” he said.
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is funded by the State Legislature to stir demand for Alaskan products. Greg Smith, the institute’s communications director, said there just isn’t enough demand to keep up with the glut of fish.
“There’s difficult issues in the global marketplace – inflation, increased cost of living, shipping costs, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so there are just significant challenges,” he said.
Fishermen started the season with some processors still holding frozen product from last year’s harvest.
The seafood marketing institute received an extra $5 million in funding this year to better compete in global markets. But even with extra funding, staff are unsure if their short-term efforts like retail displays and working with food writers will help much. Smith said one of the institute’s bigger projects is investing in new markets across the globe.
“We’re focusing on emerging markets, Latin America, parts of Africa, we’re doing some things in Israel but it is just really trying to build off the strength of the brand,” Smith said.
Smith said they’ve had some success with retail and restaurants, and even worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include salmon in purchases for school lunches and food banks. Alaska’s senators also brought the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture committee to Kodiak to make the case that fishermen should be included in the upcoming farm bill.
Friccero said with lower salmon prices, he’s able to keep a decent paycheck but will have to be wary of his budget for next year. He said he hopes market conditions improve over the winter.
The low prices this year has pushed several fishermen to call for better transparency from processors. Friccero said a guaranteed minimum price would be the best possible starting point to build more trust.
“Looking for transparency, anything would improve it right – because there’s almost none,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re being mistreated in any way, it’s just very hard to have a conversation with no information.”
Regardless, Friccero said he’ll be back to fish more next year.
China would love that.
Price gouging is an imaginary offense invented by anti-free-market Democrats. If you don’t like the price, shop for a better price, or go into business yourself.
“I looked for fresh salmon yesterday at a supermarket. It was $16.99 a pound!”
Yeah they forgot to tell the retailers the price was supposed to come down. The wholesalers and retailers are price gouging like crazy. The retailers are probably making 100% or more mark up.
I only eat wild caught salmon. Farmed salmon...wouldn’t touch it.
“Price gouging is an imaginary offense invented by anti-free-market Democrats. If you don’t like the price, shop for a better price, or go into business yourself.”
I have been in business all my life and that is the BS greed cult talking.
“If you don’t like the price, shop for a better price.”
Not possible when they are price fixing the whole market for a product. Only 3 cents less from one supplier to another is not a better price... lol
Posted this in another forum about the true reality of the situation:
“As a businessman I have to share that I am sick of the current price gouging. Now the business cult of greed disagrees with me on this. The cult of greed and “business rights” will never admit price gouging. Everything is fair game in business to this crowd. Fraud, misrepresentation, bait and switch, extortion, extortive contracts, warranties promised that never deliver, product sabotage, lack of accountability for goods and services, non-existent customer respect and service, price fixing, price gouging, Etc.
All fair game and fully supported in the name of “private business rights and free market”. But here are the facts that are currently scamming this economy. And no truly honest businessman can deny this reality which is helping kill our economy and nation. Short term gouging towards a cause and effect of long term destruction, including their own destruction. It is stupid business and self destructive.
First... If a businesses costs increase 25%-30% and they increase their markup 100% to 150% is this not price gouging?
If 25% of the businesses are hit with cost increases, yet the 75% who did not have cost increases lie about it and jump on the bandwagon to also jack up their prices anyhow price gouging?
Is raising the price of a product “only” 25% but simultaneously reducing the product amount 50% price gouging? Especially if their over head costs did not increase?
Is coordinating a fixed market price gouging?
No, even as a businessman I have to point out it is crooked ass greedy price gouging. So although mostly, this economy is not quite all Biden’s fault. The cult of greed is taking advantage of the situation, ripping off the people and letting Biden take all the blame. They are perpetuating and exacerbating the situation and the dishonesty is disgraceful and make all businessmen look greedy.”
bttt
Maybe I’ll eat more salmon.
Lox, sushi, grilled, blackened... I’ll see the fishmongers tomorrow... Well, after the hurricane.
5.56mm
No, sockeye. There are folks who won’t eat anything but sockeye.
Five species of Pacific salmon thrive in the North Pacific waters of the US and Canada: chinook (also called king), coho, pink, sockeye, and chum salmon.
Chum/Keta is the least favorite/cheapest. Sockeye is usually considered the prime fish. King/chinook is the largest.
Coho are also delicious, but were seriously overfished when I was a kid. We used to literally fill the bottom of the boat with “bluebacks” (first year coho) and have huge fish roasts. Those little fishies were so sweet and buttery tasting...
Local shrimp wholesaler in southeast TX is over stocked with shrimp, selling at $15 for a 5 pound bag. I gettin’ two fer sure.
I went fishing in Alaska several times. Never caught a salmon because the boat captains said they were scarce. But the halibut and cod were plentiful.
BFLR
Chum salmon is also called dog salmon by some. I'm shocked at times to see stores selling it. At one time it was only used for pet food.
Sockeye is the chum of salmon. When king salmon comes down, stock up.
What is a Bnoat?
the one after A
No way I am buying farmed fish.
“It’s laughable. Not cheap to buy for salmon eaters, just cheap to sell for salmon catchers!”
That is a fact!
I read one of the processors letters to the fishermen saying that they were only gonna be able to pay 20 cents a pound because Russia was dumping fish on the market to finance the war with Ukraine.
My father was a fisherman in Alaska and they had to quit years ago because Russia was fishing too close to our shores with huge processing ships. 3 miles. Then Congress passed a law saying 12 miles is the limit and things got better. I don’t know that things can get better. If you can’t afford gas you can’t afford to pay crew why would you go to Alaska from Washington state which is what most of these people do? My first thought is that the WEF is trying every way to get rid of all food, and Wild caught Alaska salmon is one of the most nutritious clean foods still available to us. I think we should all stock up because we might never get more.
I told my sister in law who lives in Alaska part time to buy as much as she can freeze and bring down.
There’s nothing resembling a “Free Market” these days. Big Business is in bed with government.
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