Alaska’s Coho Salmon Harvest Could Be a Record Low

An international seafood market observer is forecasting that Alaska could face a record low this year in coho salmon landings, compared to strong coho salmon landings in Russia.

The observer, Robert Reierson, president and CEO of Tradex Foods, a supplier of premium quality frozen seafood, said this is despite the fact that Russian-origin salmon is banned in the U.S. and the European Union is considering expanding its sanctions to include a wider range of Russian seafood imports.

Alaska and Russia are the largest producers of wild Pacific coho salmon, contributing to last year’s global production of about 21,200 metric tons (nearly 47 million pounds) from about 7.45 million fish.

Coho landings in Alaska first register in July and are one of the last two species to peak during the Alaska summer salmon season. Peak coho harvest in Alaska typically takes place between mid-August and September.

Reierson noted in an online report on Sept. 2 that the Alaska coho harvest this year marked one of the lowest harvests in 30 years. This year is currently 60% behind the pace of last year’s and 14% below the last even-numbered year.

Given the slow harvest pace, a new record low overall harvest in Alaska may be on the horizon, he said.

In Russia meanwhile, coho harvests may be surging. The latest totals show that about 23% of the 10.8 thousand metric ton forecast has been landed, and it is the second highest forecast in the past five seasons. In the past even-numbered years, Russia has also harvested over 100% of the coho forecasts, data show.