Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Fish & Game confirms pink and chum egg take cap for hatcheries

November 4, 2026 — Alaska hatchery operators have agreed to place a cap on the amount of eggs they can take from pink and chum salmon for the next five years. The Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Doug Vincent-Lang, announced the news at the Board of Fisheries’ work session on Oct. 28.

Every aquaculture association in Alaska signed on to the agreement, except for the Valdez Fisheries Development Association. But Vincent-Lang said at the work session that he won’t approve permit increases for any hatcheries for the duration of the moratorium, even if they didn’t sign on.

“I just wanted to make sure everybody was aware that this is signed and it’s in place, and we follow through on our commitment as a department,” Vincent-Lang said.

Read the full article at KMXT

King salmon runs are crashing. In Kodiak, a pioneering conservation project aims to save one

October 21, 2026 — The mountains had turned orange and yellow above Kodiak’s Pillar Creek hatchery as James ‘Hawk’ Turman waited at the hatchery gate on a September day.

“It smells a little bit right now, because you got a bunch of pink salmon out there dying in the river,” he said as he unlocked the gate. “I’m waiting for a bunch of rain to just wash them all down.”

Turman manages the Pillar Creek hatchery. Most of the time, it’s home to the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association’s sockeye and silver salmon operations. But something new is happening here. The aquaculture association is trying to rehabilitate a crashing king salmon run from the Karluk River, on the southwest side of the island.

Eggs collected from those wild salmon are now incubating at the hatchery. And although many support the project, some scientists worry it could do more harm than good.

Alaska’s king salmon runs are in trouble

The Karluk run is one of only two native king salmon runs on Kodiak Island, and it has deep cultural and historical significance for the Alutiiq people. But the run is in major trouble. Last year, only 93 kings returned to the Karluk River. The year before, it was just 76.

Across Alaska, king salmon populations have been returning in record low numbers. Turman said the Karluk project, which according to the aquaculture association is the first of its kind in the state, might be the start of something bigger.

“Our efforts are being used as kind of a test case for other stocks of concern around the state,” he said. “Someone had to finally kick the can off the bridge, and why not us?”

Read the full article at KMXT

ALASKA: Kodiak salmon season yields more fish, higher prices than expected

September 9, 2026 — The summer commercial salmon season is winding down in Kodiak. Between high diesel prices and late salmon returns, this year’s season had plenty of twists. KMXT’s Katherine Irving broke it all down with Kodiak commercial salmon fisherman Darren Platt on Sep. 1.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Katherine Irving, KMXT: How has the season been so far?

Darren Platt: It’s been a pretty decent season here, I’d say. More fish than we expected, and higher prices than anybody thought we’d get in our lifetimes.

KMXT: And did you know that prices were going to be high at the beginning of the season, or was that a surprise to you?

Platt: We knew they were going to be high, but not where they are now. There’s people that always say, “Oh, we’re going to get this or that,” every year and you just wait till they post a price. And this year, when they posted it, everybody was shocked.

KMXT: And were the prices high for all species?

Platt: Every species had high prices this year. The highest I’ve seen in my career, I believe. Pinks right now we’re getting 70 cents [a pound]. In 2023, we were getting 18 cents a pound.

Read the full transcript at KMXT

ALASKA: Record-breaking pink run surges into Sitka

August 26, 2026 — Sitka purse seiners broke the area’s single-day pink salmon harvest record twice this month, as a strong late run and increased fishing effort turned around what had initially looked like a difficult season.

According to an Aug. 20 report from Raven Radio, seiners in District 13 harvested 1.23 million pink salmon on Aug. 6, surpassing the previous single-day record of roughly 950,000 fish set in 2017.

Four days later, the fleet broke the record again, harvesting 1.28 million pink salmon on Aug. 10.

“We’ve just been seeing really strong harvests of pink salmon and really strong escapements, which was kind of unusual for an even year, and fairly unusual, given what’s been going on with pink salmon in the rest of the Gulf of Alaska,” Alaska Department of Fish and Game Sitka area management biologist Aaron Dupuis told KCAW. “So it’s pretty special to have a good pink run in the Sitka area this year.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaska salmon catch swells to 29.5 million

July 16, 2026 — Alaska’s commercial salmon catch jumped from 21.2 million to 29.5 million for the seven days through July 14, as retail prices generally held, with 24% of the projected annual harvest now met.

Silver Bay Seafoods has adjusted its 2026 Bristol Bay sockeye price to $2 a pound for chilled, floated, bled fish, the Bristol Bay Fishermen’s Association said on Tuesday, July 14. The company will continue to evaluate the season’s financial results, with the final profit share to be calculated and reviewed by the fishermen’s board at the spring meeting, said Janis Harsila, business manager for the BBFA.

On July 15, Trident Seafoods announced a base price increase from $1.25 to $1.65 a pound, bringing its Tier 1 chilled price to $2.

Consumers found fresh fillets of red salmon on sale at Costco warehouses in Anchorage for $14.99 a pound, down $2 from a week earlier. Seafood managers at New Sagaya in Anchorage had Alaska red salmon fillets for $12.95 a pound, while 10th & M held firm at $16.95 a pound. Carrs-Safeway customers with a store card could purchase those fillets for $16.99 a pound, but the regular price was $38.99 a pound.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Retail prices for 2026 Alaska salmon are still a wild card

May 1, 2026 — Given an Alaska Department of Fish and Game 2026 harvest prediction of 125.5 million salmon, down 36 percent from 197.4 million a year ago, forecasts on retail prices still remain a wild card.

The forecast for 56 million pink, 49.7 million sockeye, 17.2 million chum and 2.4 million coho compares with 2025 forecasts of 120 million pink, 52.7 million sockeye, 21.7 million chum and 2.7 million coho salmon.

While rumors are out there that salmon prices will rise because of the increased cost of fuel, nothing is settled yet, said Tito Marquez, manager at 10th & M Seafoods, a popular Anchorage seafood shop.

“We are still waiting to see how the season plays out for Alaska and Russia,” said Simon Marks, a research analyst at McKinley Research Group in Juneau, Alaska. “We usually get information on Russian pinks much later in the year.”

Current fisheries articles don’t suggest that dramatic changes are said Gunnar Knapp, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research. While hardly definitive, it is an indication that nothing is going on that is either hugely positive or negative news, he said.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Board of Fish rejects proposals to reduce hatchery pink and chum production

March 27, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries last weekend voted down three proposals to limit hatchery production of pink and chum salmon. Those hatcheries are mostly in Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound. They’re run by private nonprofits, and the state manages their permits.

There are currently 11 hatcheries permitted to take 1.39 billion pink salmon eggs and 15 hatcheries permitted to take 939 million chum salmon eggs.

The Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee sought a 25% reduction in egg production per hatchery permit. That’s a proposal that they’ve recommended before.

Board of Fish member Mike Wood of Talkeetna discussed the pros and cons.

“By cutting 25% of hatchery production in areas like Prince William Sound or Southeast, is the squeeze worth the juice with the impacts that it would have on these small boat fishermen, on an industry that we really need to rely on in this state?” he asked.

Read the full article at KCAW

ALASKA: Board of Fish to consider limiting pink and chum hatchery production and changes to trawl gear

March 19, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting Tuesday through Saturday in Anchorage at the Egan Civic and Convention Center to consider changes to statewide finfish fisheries. Board members are appointed by the governor. They consider changes to the state’s fish regulations after listening to opinions from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game and the public.

Three proposals are seeking to limit hatchery production of chum and pink salmon in the state. There are about 30 salmon hatcheries, mostly in Southeast and Prince William Sound. Almost all of them are private nonprofits permitted by the state.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

 

ALASKA: Board of Fish to consider limiting pink and chum hatchery production and changes to trawl gear

March 17, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting Tuesday through Saturday in Anchorage at the Egan Civic and Convention Center to consider changes to statewide finfish fisheries. Board members are appointed by the governor. They consider changes to the state’s fish regulations after listening to opinions from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game and the public.

Three proposals are seeking to limit hatchery production of chum and pink salmon in the state. There are about 30 salmon hatcheries, mostly in Southeast and Prince William Sound. Almost all of them are private nonprofits permitted by the state.

Read the full article at KFSK

USDA awards nearly USD 14 million in catfish, pollock, and salmon contracts

December 15, 2025 —  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded USD 13,694,519 (EUR 11,666,316) in contracts for catfish, pollock, and salmon products for use in federal domestic food programs.

Sitka, Alaska, U.S.A.-based Silver Bay Seafoods was the biggest winner of the announcement, securing roughly half of the funding by value. The company was awarded USD 7,077,272 (EUR 6,028,959) to provide more than 88,000 cases of canned pink salmon.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource