ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH & GAME

 

ADF&G Press Release

Denby S. Lloyd, Commissioner
Tim Barry, Communications Director
P.O. Box115526
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Phone: (907) 465-6137 • Fax: (907) 465-2332

Press Release: No. 07-27,

Contact: Geron Bruce, Assistant Director, Division of Commercial Fisheries (907) 465-6151

ADF&G Releases Summary of the 2007 Salmon Season
This year’s harvest was the 4th largest since Statehood

(JUNEAU) – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Commercial Fisheries today posted its preliminary end-of-season estimates of commercial harvest and value for the 2007 salmon season.  All estimates of salmon prices at this time are preliminary and usually underestimate the final value of the commercial salmon harvest. 

This season, commercial fishermen harvested 212 million salmon, which had an estimated total value of $374 million. The harvest was the 4th largest since statehood, about 33 million fish above the preseason forecast, and above the most recent 10-year average of 164 million fish.  The preliminary 2007 statewide total exvessel value of the 2007 salmon harvest was nearly $28 million higher than the final exvessel value in 2006, and significantly higher than the most recent 10-year average of $277 million.

As of today, preliminary estimates of the statewide average prices for sockeye and pink salmon are $.75 and $.17 per pound respectively, comparable to last year’s final exvessel prices.  Average Chinook salmon prices in 2007 were $2.68, below the final prices in 2006; however, prices for winter troll-caught Chinook salmon are currently averaging more than double these levels.  Preliminary coho salmon prices are below the final prices in 2006, decreasing from $1.04 per pound in 2006 to $0.83 per pound in 2007, while preliminary chum salmon prices are slightly lower than last year, at $.30 per pound compared to final 2006 prices of $.32 per pound.  Bristol Bay’s sockeye salmon harvest of 29.5 million fish was the 10th largest since 1893. The preliminary exvessel value of $106 million was slightly lower than the final 2006 Bristol Bay sockeye salmon value of $108 million.

The statewide pink salmon harvest of 143 million fish is the 3rd largest harvest since Statehood.  It compares to the all time record harvest of 161 million fish in 2005, and is well above the long term historical average of 64.8 million fish. The statewide chum salmon harvest of 17.3 million fish ranks within the top 10 harvests of all time, with an exvessel value of $39.5 million, compared to the most recent 10-year average of $32 million.

The Norton Sound coho salmon harvest of 126 thousand fish ranks second only to the 2006 record harvest of 131 thousand fish.  In the Port Clarence District, there was a commercial salmon fishery, targeting sockeye salmon, for the first time since 1966. 

More complete information will be available after processor annual reports have been received and compiled during the spring of 2008.  These reports provide the most complete and accurate information on the prices paid for salmon by various processors operating in Alaska, including any post-season adjustments or bonuses.  A revised estimate of salmon prices and values will then be released around July 1, 2008.

Details on the numbers and pounds of fish, average fish weight, average price per pound, and exvessel value for each of the salmon species, by area as well as statewide, can be found on the ADF&G website under “2007 Preliminary Season Summary” at http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/finfish/salmon/catchval/blusheet/07exvesl.php . Copies are also available from Mike D. Plotnick, who can be reached by phone at (907) 465-6133.  These estimates are considered preliminary. Some fisheries, such as the salmon troll fishery, are still in progress. Revised estimates will be available during the summer of 2008 after fish ticket data have been finalized and ADF&G has received final prices from processors’ annual reports.

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