I’m normally kind of conservative when I forecast, but this year I might not be.” “I’m gonna be gambling like it’s somebody else’s money when it comes to the age of 1-2s in the next year’s forecast,” he said. Greg Buck, a biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said most fish that returned this year only spent one or two years in the ocean instead of three. A 2-ocean fish, for example, has spent two years in the ocean before returning to its spawning grounds. Demand is good, and he’s comfortable with the market for fish big and small.īut why are Bristol Bay’s salmon shrinking?įirst, the returning fish are younger than normal.Ī salmon’s age is measured by how many years it spends in the ocean. Hickman said he isn’t worried about how the smaller fish will play in Peter Pan’s markets. RELATED: Meet one of Bristol Bay’s salmon counters who tallied sockeye during the biggest run on record You get more labor into them, there’s more costs associated with those smaller fish.” There’s more labor going into those smaller fish. “So you’re handling a 4-pound fish or a 3-pound fish, as opposed to a 5-pound fish, so every time you handle one there’s a 2-pound difference. “Smaller fish are going to take longer to process,” he said. The smaller fish play a role in how much time processors spend on the job, said Jon Hickman, the executive vice president of operations for Peter Pan Seafoods. The 2021 average was just 4.5 pounds, according to the McKinley Research Group. Last year’s average weight for sockeye was 5.1 pounds. But while the size of this year’s run broke records, the fish are getting smaller. (Brian Venua / KDLG)īristol Bay is home to the largest sockeye run on the planet.
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