Larger Volumes of Salmon, Pollock Have Potential for Revenue Increases in 2025
2024 was not a recovery year for total ex-vessel value of Alaska’s seafood harvest, but the potential of greater harvests of salmon and pollock in 2025 could bring a revenue boost, even with static prices, according to a research consultant monitoring the state’s fisheries.
Potential larger volumes of the salmon and pollock are positive price signals, seafood economics consultant Sam Friedman of McKinley Research Group, said. Friedman presented the economic update on Dec. 3, during the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s annual “All Hands On Deck” gathering in Anchorage.
Friedman factored in the impact on prices given the likelihood that the incoming Trump administration could impose heavy tariffs on imports from China, where a lot of Alaska seafood undergoes secondary processing, and the first Bering Sea snow crab harvest since 2021-22.
In 2023, Friedman noted, prices were down for almost all species of seafood, with the biggest drop for crab, salmon, halibut and sablefish. The price decline was also significant but not as large for groundfish, he said.
Changes in the preliminary ex-vessel prices for 2022-2023 were positive only for sea cucumber, which rose 54%. On the minus side were Tanner crab, -54%; keta salmon, -44%; sockeye salmon, -40%; pink salmon, -32%; sablefish, -28%; halibut, -25%; Alaska pollock, -17%; Pacific cod, -6% and flatfish, -4%.
While there were some improvements to prices in 2024, they did not return to 2022 levels, Friedman said. The industry was also troubled by a historically small salmon harvest and an overall drop in value because of lower harvest volume.
Still, in 2024 the statewide average salmon ex-vessel prices rose 64% from $0.64 to $1.05 a pound and coho prices were up 9% from $1.07 to $1.17 a pound, while keta prices dropped 20%, from $0.49 a pound to $0.39 a pound and pink salmon dropped 4%, from $0.24 a pound to $0.23 a pound, according to data compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Among the other presentations at the All Hands On Deck gathering was an update on ASMI’s Global Food Aid Program, which supports marketing of Alaska’s seafood through participation in federal government food assistance programs.
The 15 domestic and four international food and nutrition safety net program purchase Alaska wild pollock, salmon and Pacific rockfish. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the sole buyer for all domestic and international programs, including new initiatives with additional funding, said Bruce Schactler, director of ASMI’s Global Food Aid Program, who works with veteran nutrition and food aid consultant Nina Schlossman on this project.
It’s a win-win situation, Schactler said, because it provides the support when needed by the seafood industry and for USDA the nutritious sustainable wild Alaska seafood to support good health for families dealing with food insecurity.
Over 20 years, overall sales have added up to over $1.07 billion, with expenses being under $6 million to the food aid program itself, data show.
“Now that’s a pretty good return on the state’s investment,” Schactler said.
