Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishermen are anticipating another good year, with a projected harvest of 31.4 million fish, up from the 2007 catch of 29.5 million fish. Prior to the 2007 season, managers were forecasting a catch of 26.3 million fish.
As usual, the bulk of the catch is anticipated in the Naknek-Kvichak area, which consists of the Naknek, Kvichak and Alagnak rivers. The combined area total harvest is expected to be 9.7 million fish, with an escapement of 4.9 million fish.
The Egegik district should see a catch of 6.9 million sockeye, Ugashik 5.6 million, the Nushugak 8.5 million and Togiak 0.6 million.
Some fishermen who were put on catch limits on and off for 11 days during the peak of the 2007 season expressed concern about processors being prepared for an even larger run next season.
"The processors run the fishery," said one fisherman who asked not to be identified. "If they don't buy the fish, what difference does it make how big the run is?"
East Asian countries are importing between 50 and 90 percent more Russian sockeye salmon than Russia is reporting as caught, according to a new report from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, and World Wildlife Fund.
Analysis of data from officially published sources reveals that from 2003 to 2005, the estimated excess quantity of Russian Sockeye salmon entering East Asian markets was between 8,000 and 15,000 tons each year, worth $40 to $76 million USD.
"The governments of Russia, Japan, China and South Korea need to tighten up on the Russian salmon trade to distinguish legal from illegal products in the market place and to protect salmon from over-fishing," says Craig Kirkpatrick, TRAFFIC's East Asia director. "The Russian government's records appear to under-estimate the true catch substantially."
Possible reasons for the under-estimate include illegal catches or fishermen not reporting fully how much salmon they catch (two components of so-called Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported "IUU" fisheries), or flaws in the government's reporting system itself.
The report uses mathematical modeling to estimate the discrepancies between the reported catch and import and market data.
"The traded amounts of between 150 and 190 percent of reported catches compare closely with previous estimates that IUU activities in the Russian Far East are 40-60 percent above the officially reported catch," says Shelley Clarke, author of the report.
Japan is the world's largest importer of salmon, and imports about half its frozen sockeye supplies directly from Russia.
China imports very little salmon for its domestic markets, but acts as a major low-cost salmon processing center, most of it destined for Europe and the United States, according to the report. Chinese buyers are often said to be reluctant to make upfront cash payments to Russian parties, so they buy their fish through brokers in South Korea, who offer low-cost bonded warehouse facilities, which serve as duty-free storage areas.
William Hogarth, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, announced his retirement yesterday after 13 years at the federal agency.
Hogarth told the press that he will step down on Dec. 31 as assistant administrator for the fisheries at NOAA, a position he has held since 2001. He will start a new position as interim dean of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science beginning Jan. 15.
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at cristy-fry@excite.com.
