Wild salmon at $40 a pound?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Will this be the year we see fishmongers charging $40 a pound for salmon?

Some fear that the answer is yes, given the ominous signs: Federal officials are meeting near Seattle this week to slash or even halt salmon fishing off California and Oregon. Washington's salmon catch also looks iffy, prompting Gov. Chris Gregoire this week to contemplate calling for emergency federal aid.

And Alaska's bountiful wild salmon catch is expected to be trimmed by one-third from last year's bumper harvest.

Overall, expect a boost in prices for the famously cyclical catch of wild salmon, say government officials and fishing-industry observers. That's particularly true for the highly sought-after chinook -- or king -- salmon, whose numbers in California collapsed this year.

"All the California markets don't have fish, and they (will be) saying, 'We'll buy that fish for a dollar more a pound,' " said Craig Bowhay, an analyst with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

"For a piece of the action, you're going to have to pay."

It's simple economics: With few or no salmon coming from Oregon and California, and Washington's catch constrained by the need to protect runs under the Endangered Species Act, the overall salmon catch will be smaller.

Meanwhile, demand has skyrocketed -- to the point that even the lowly chum salmon, which once sold for perhaps $1 a pound or even $1 a fish, is now routinely going for $3 a pound or more.

"America has become a nation of salmon eaters," said Laura Fleming, communications director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

But once Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries kick into high gear next month, there will be salmon available.

More than 90 percent of North America's wild salmon harvest comes from Alaska. While the salmon catch there is being slashed by about 35 percent from last year, 2007 marked Alaska's fourth-biggest salmon catch ever.

For 2008, "we're looking for a very healthy year," said Mike Plotnick, an analyst with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, who emphasized that Alaska's first priority is letting enough fish get past the nets to preserve abundant runs.

But you'll pay more. In the last few weeks, with just a limited winter fishery in gear, at least one Seattle market was selling wild chinook for $32.95 a pound. Even in Juneau, practically on top of the winter fishery, Fleming recently forked out $26 a pound, she said.

The California salmon crash prompted inaccurate reports that salmon would be unavailable. The crash had its roots in 2005, when young salmon from the Sacramento River swam to the ocean. Those fish are set to return this year.

Some observers, especially environmentalists, trace the drop to diversions of massive amounts of water to farms and cities from salmon streams in California's Central Valley.

But scientists note that 2005 also saw an unusual weather pattern that pummeled the marine food web, killing tens of thousands of seabirds and leaving the young salmon with little to eat. Dozens of other causes are being investigated, as well.

This week, the whole thing comes to a head as the Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in SeaTac to set catch limits on the coast from Canada to Mexico. The National Marine Fisheries Service will decide by May 1 whether to take the council's recommendation.

While the fisheries service is balking at allowing even 2,000 or 3,000 fish to be caught off California and Oregon this year, an estimated 6,000 salmon were killed and dumped back into the ocean unused last year as an inadvertent catch in the whiting fishery, records show.

Environmentalists, while noting that dams and water diversions are prime culprits in the decline of Pacific Northwest salmon, also fault the fisheries service for failing to rein in this salmon "bycatch" in the whiting fishery off Washington, Oregon and California.

"NMFS still fails to take action on that issue, and yet they're shutting down the California fishery," said Jim Ayers, vice president of the activist group Oceana. "The whiting guys get to pick them up in their nets, kill 'em and throw them away."

Will lots of California and Oregon fishermen head north to Washington, where at least some fishing will be allowed?

Not likely, industry observers say, especially with diesel fuel, which runs most fishing vessels, going for $4 a gallon or more.

"It's a concern, but it's not like the whole world's going to come here," said fisheries service biologist Peter Dygart.

If federal officials order major cuts in fishing here, Gregoire will press for emergency aid to the fishing industry, she said Monday.

While there are some bright spots in Washington this year -- Columbia River fall chinook and Puget Sound chum are expected to show increases, for example -- overall the fishery will be constrained by low numbers of protected coho salmon, said Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Coho usually start to show up offshore in big numbers in July. When that happens, fishing for chinook has to be scaled back, because the two fish mingle in the ocean.

So chinook may be fairly plentiful in May and June, but the usual moderation of salmon prices as we move into high summer might not happen this year.

"Anyone who knows fishing knows you can't tell until (the season) opens," Pattillo said. But, he added, "Prices are likely to increase. They've been at record levels for the last few years."

Overall, salmon runs have been pummeled in Washington and Oregon, compared with historic levels. For example, while scientists estimate that perhaps 5 million to 9 million chinook returned to the Columbia River each year in the late 1800s, the number returning there from 1979 to 2006 averaged just 135,000.

"We're just kind of down here at low levels, and the fact that (the chinook catch) is up this year isn't really anything to write home about," Pattillo said.

Canada is unlikely to come to consumers' rescue, either, Pattillo said, because it has stopped fishing for coho off Vancouver Island, where millions were previously caught each year.

It is possible that some consumers will just switch to farmed salmon -- and, if they're not careful, those consumers could even be the unlucky ones who end up paying that $40 a pound if they have an unscrupulous fishmonger, said Fleming, the Alaskan seafood marketer.

"You may have to talk with the person at your seafood restaurant or grocery counter. You may have to say, 'Do you know there are other species we can try while we're waiting for our river to come back?' " she said. "I like to think of it as a flavor for every palate and a price point for every budget."

Consumers are likely to substitute coho or sockeye before they'll pay $40 a pound for chinook, said veteran Washington fisherman Joel Kawahara.

"It would be ridiculous to ask people who are paying $4 a gallon for gas to pay $30 a pound for salmon," said Kawahara, who along with environmentalists is pointing to this year's salmon crunch as a clarion call for better salmon management.

"I don't see $40," Kawahara said. "$18 is going to be tough."

But, he acknowledged, "The consumer side of the equation is so far different from what it has been in the past five years that you can't predict what the price is going to be."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/358287_salmon09.html

[*julez* 124]

I am offended by the term 'fishmonger'. Even if its not a politically incorrect term, it should be construed as such.

Edited April 9, 2008 by julezabelle

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What's wrong with fishmonger?

[Nagishkaw 510]

It sounds fishy .

[*julez* 124]

Exactly!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Fishy?

You know, fish are probably offended by our use of that word.

[*julez* 124]

And well they should be! 'monger' attached to any word is just plain offensive.

[almaty 19]

monger is slang and a negative one for Mongols......you chopf##k brother arjit..you want to bring the golden horde on us..or the biker gang ?

[Krikit 1,164]

And well they should be! 'monger' attached to any word is just plain offensive.

It is? Are you just pulling our legs? I've never heard of its use in any other way but as in reference to a dealer or a trader, with latin origins.

monger is slang and a negative one for Mongols......you chopf##k brother arjit..you want to bring the golden horde on us..or the biker gang ?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

almaty, that was despicable... disgusting... downright low down and dirty....

[almaty 19]

almaty, that was despicable... disgusting... downright low down and dirty....

come on by the house...me ant the boys buy you a beer...

[*julez* 124]

And well they should be! 'monger' attached to any word is just plain offensive.

It is? Are you just pulling our legs? I've never heard of its use in any other way but as in reference to a dealer or a trader, with latin origins.

monger is slang and a negative one for Mongols......you chopf##k brother arjit..you want to bring the golden horde on us..or the biker gang ?

I was simply trying to turn a non-political thread into a political thread!

[Ban Hammer 13,364]

And well they should be! 'monger' attached to any word is just plain offensive.

It is? Are you just pulling our legs? I've never heard of its use in any other way but as in reference to a dealer or a trader, with latin origins.

monger is slang and a negative one for Mongols......you chopf##k brother arjit..you want to bring the golden horde on us..or the biker gang ?

I was simply trying to turn a non-political thread into a political thread!

warmonger!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Let's see if we can turn this into a daily VJ custom from now on. The non-political fish thread!

[Saddle Bronc 124]

monger is slang and a negative one for Mongols......you chopf##k brother arjit..you want to bring the golden horde on us..or the biker gang ?

Last I checked, the suffix "monger" was a term meaning "seller".