Alaska salmon sales had lots of ups and downs this summer, but held their own overall in a tough market awash with farmed fish.
The wild salmon catch goes to market in many forms such as canned, fresh or frozen, fillets and roe. The state Revenue Department/Tax Division provides quartile reports on first wholesale prices for all of Alaska's salmon forms by species and region. Its report covering May – August shows lots of wild salmon fillets were tossed on the grill this summer, and people were willing to pay more for them.
Alaska processors produced more than 13 million pounds of salmon fillets during the summer season. Prices for king fillets averaged $11.45 per pound, a 70-cent increase over last year. Fresh sockeye salmon fillets averaged $7.60 per pound, and $7.24 per pound for coho fillets – an increase of 66 cents for both. Only chum fillets fell at wholesale to $3.25 a pound, down 52 cents from last summer.
Salmon roe prices, especially for pinks and chums, showed big jumps this summer. Pink salmon roe at $9.28 per pound was a 53 percent increase over last season; chum roe increased from $12.17 to $15 per pound.
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