Smaller summer fisheries involve more local operations
Alaska fishing communities Credit: ADFG
Alaska salmon fisheries are geared up from Ketchikan to Kotzebue with statewide catches topping 48 million fish by July 22. If all the fish come in as forecasted, the season tally for 2024 should total nearly 136 salmon. That’s down nearly 42% from the 2023 Alaska salmon catch of more than 232 million fish valued at nearly $399 million to fishermen.
While salmon always takes center stage each summer, there are a lot more fisheries going on across Alaska at the same time. And while Alaska’s biggest fisheries for pollock, cod and other groundfish are ongoing in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, most of the summertime fisheries involve smaller, more local operations.
The summer Dungeness crab fishery at Southeast Alaska opened on June 15 where state fishery managers predict the season’s catch will top 2.5 million pounds. A fleet of 139 crabbers was on the grounds and had hauled up 702,464 pounds by mid-July. The price was averaging $3.01 per pound for the two-pounders, up from $2.12 last season.
A small fleet of 23 Kodiak crabbers also dropped pots for Dungeness starting in May in a fishery that continues until October 1. Fishermen said it’s been slow going with catches averaging just three crabs per pot-pull so far. The total take was approaching 440,000 pounds by mid-July with price reports of $3.00 per pound.
The average price for Dungeness fishermen in Alaska last year was just $1.98 per pound, according to the annual Commercial Operators Annual Report (COAR) by Alaska processors.
Two shrimp fisheries are ongoing each summer at Southeast Alaska. Starting in mid-May a fleet of 101 fishermen started dropping pots for big spot prawns, which have a harvest limit of 438,300 pounds, down just slightly from last year when fishermen fetched $10.78 per pound. A handful of beam trawlers also has been fishing since May for Northern pink shrimp with a total harvest set at 650,000 pounds.The tiny shrimp usually pay out at around $.20 per pound for fishermen.
Prince William Sound also has a small summer pot shrimp fishery that runs through mid-September with a harvest limit of 46,809 pounds.
Alaska’s most far-flung crab fishery along the Aleutian Islands begins in July for golden king crab. A fleet of just five boats is targeting a catch limit of 4.88 million pounds this year, down by 11% from last season.
The golden king crab live amid underwater mountain ranges at depths of 1,800 feet or more, five times deeper than waters for red king crab. Unlike other crab fisheries, the golden crab fleet longlines their pots to keep them from getting lost. The boats can remain at sea for a month or more throughout the fishery which ends on April 30. The dockside price to fishermen last year for golden crab was $8.89 per pound.
Alaska catches of Pacific halibut were nearing 7 million pounds by July 19, out of the nearly 17.3 million pound quota. Nearly one-third of the catch was offloaded at Homer. Prices to fishermen were in the $5 – $6.50 per pound range, according to The Fish Ticket from Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. In 2023, the statewide average price for halibut was $5.42 per pound.
Sablefish (black cod) catches were nearing 20 million pounds, or 32% of the nearly 60.8 million pound catch limit with most of the fish being delivered to Kodiak. Prices ranged from lows of $.30 per pound for under two pounders to $6.50 for 7-ups. Last year’s average price for sablefish was $2.85 per pound.
Biggest scallops, smallest fleet
One of Alaska’s smallest and priciest fisheries gets underway each year on July 1 – weathervane scallops. Weathervanes are the largest scallops in the world and it takes about five years for them to reach a marketable shell size of about five inches. Some can measure 10 inches across!
Licensing allows for nine fishing permits, but just two boats take part in Alaska’s scallop fishery, which spans from Yakutat to the Bering Sea and runs through February 15 in most regions. Both boats are homeported at Kodiak.
“It’s pretty specialized. It’s not something you can get into easily. It requires a fair bit of institutional knowledge and also specialized gear,” said Nat Nichols, area shellfish manager at the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game at Kodiak. “Lots of people have some Tanner crab pots lying around their backyards but not many have a 15 foot New Bedford scallop dredge.”
The boats drop big dredges comprising four inch rings to keep out smaller sizes. They make tows along mostly sandy bottoms of strictly defined fishing regions. The fishery is co-managed with the federal government and has 100 percent observer coverage.
This season, the two boats will compete for 374,700 pounds of shucked scallop meats, which are the adductor muscle that keeps the shells closed.
The scallop fishery also is very labor intensive as it includes catching and processing. The scallops typically are flash frozen and packed in five-pound boxes.
“It takes a lot of manpower, with crews of 12 people that are shucking by hand. Every Alaska scallop you’ve ever seen was shucked by hand,” said Nichols.
In 2023, Alaska landings totaled 329,095 pounds of shucked meats, a more than 10% increase over the previous year. As reported by the Alaska Scallop Association, the price increased from $11.06 per pound to $13.56, a 22.6% increase.
That led to a total gross first wholesale value boost from $3.3 million to nearly $4.5 million, a 35% increase. “With an assumed maximum of 12 crew and 42% crew share allocation of total gross revenue, this resulted in a potential crew share increase from $57,824 to $78,094 in 2023,” the Association reported.
