Alaska’s 2015 salmon season produced the second largest harvest ever, but rock bottom prices yielded the lowest pay out to fishermen since 2006. That will cut into the tax base of coastal communities and state coffers, which collect fully half of all fish landing taxes.
Preliminary tallies from the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game show that the statewide salmon catch topped 263 million fish (the record is 273 million in 2013) with an exvessel (dockside) value at $414 million, a 28 percent decrease from last year. (Preliminary tallies)
The salmon dollar values don’t include post-season bonuses or price adjustments after sales are made. Using exvessel figures also chronically undervalues the Alaska salmon fishery, because what is paid at the docks represents only 40 percent of the fishery’s value.
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