177 million salmon caught so far
Alaska’s salmon harvest is winding down with the catch estimated at 177 million fish as of Aug. 24, according to McDowell Group, a consulting firm retained by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Bristol Bay saw a huge run of sockeye salmon this year, and the statewide harvest of 55 million sockeyes is 10 percent ahead of 2018 as of Aug. 24. Pink salmon harvested so far total 107 million fish, 12 percent down from 120 million pinks caught by this time in 2017, the previous year in the two-year pink salmon cycle. Chum, or keta, salmon are about 16 percent below 2018 as of Aug. 24, or 13.3 million fish compared with 15.9 million harvested in 2018. Coho, or silver, salmon are running about 18 percent lower than 2018 at this time, with 1.98 million harvested as of Aug. 24.

Bristol Bay saw a huge run of 56.3 million fish, 33 percent higher than the Alaska Fish and Game department forecast. Biologists had predicted a run of 40.2 million fish. The Bristol Bay harvest was only 3 percent up from 2018 as of August 24, or 45.27 million fish caught compared with 41.9 million for the same period of 2018.

Tit-for-tat China trade war
The tit-for-tat trade war with China is adversely affecting Alaska seafood companies. China’s 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. imports including seafood resulted in a 36 percent drop in U.S. sales of fish to China worth $340 million, much of it from Alaska. China’s imports of U.S. seafood dropped from $1.3 billion to $969 million over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12-month period. Frozen pink and chum salmon purchased by China for reprocessing and re-export to the U.S. were not included in the tariffs. Loss of sales is contributing to lower prices. The trade war is the state’s biggest challenge in seafood.