Coho catch rate so far is 60% behind the 2023 take
The peak weeks for coho salmon (silvers) catches typically occur from mid-August into September and all indications point to one of the lowest harvests ever.
“This year’s Alaska coho harvest is currently 60% behind the pace of last year at this time, and 14% below the last even-numbered year, which marked one of the lowest harvests in 30 years,” said Richard Reierson, CEO of global Tradex.
The statewide harvest had barely topped one million silvers by September 5 on a preseason forecast of 2.64 million fish.
Alaska and Russia are the largest producers of wild Pacific coho, contributing to last year’s global production of about 21,200 metric tons, or 46.64 million pounds from about 7.45 million fish.
Unlike Alaska, the coho harvest in Russia is surging and the catch is likely to come in as projected at over 3.7 million fish, the second highest forecast over the past five years. Imports of Russian salmon are banned in the US, and the 27 countries that comprise the European Union are considering sanctions to include more Russian seafood.
Tradex predicts any market shortfalls will be made up by farmed coho salmon from Chile.
“Europe has been increasingly importing this fish and is most popular among smokers there,” Reierson said.
In 2023, Chile’s harvest of farmed coho salmon was approximately 309,000 metric tons (680 million pounds), marking an increase of about 18% percent compared to 2022, he added.
