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6/1/06
Alaska Salmon Prices for 2004 and 2005Today marks the start of salmon seasons in lower Cook Inlet and Kodiak. Fishermen have their fingers crossed that salmon prices will continue to tick upwards as they have over the past couple of years. While prices vary from port to port, here's a guideline from last year and 2004. According to state figures, the average price for king salmon was 2.27 cents a pound in 2005, up from 1.93 the year before. Last year's average sockeye salmon price was 73 cents a pound, up from 60 cents in 2004.
Notably, the price at Alaska's largest sockeye salmon fishery at Bristol Bay was 61 cents, up from 50 cents in 2004. Cohos topped sockeyes last year with an average price of 76 cents a pound. That was up from 70 cents the year before. For chum salmon, the price averaged 27 cents a pound last year, up from 21 cents. And for Alaska's bread and butter fish - pink salmon, the average price in 2005 was 12 cents, up from a dime the year before. Last year's Alaska salmon harvest set an all time record at 222 million fish. The seafood market bulletin shows that 47 percent of the fish ended up as headed/gutted frozen, and 37 percent went into cans. The overall value of Alaska's 2005 salmon harvest was 334 million dollars at the docks, up from about 272 million dollars in 2004.
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