Prince William Sound's Pink Run is Odd in an 
Even Year
The pink salmon run in Alaska's Prince William Sound is running counter to the fishery's typical run timing compared to nearly 30 years worth of data. The harvest through last week was 8.8 million fish, well below the ten-year average. However, the current timing of the female run shows percentages normally associated with peak harvest volumes. Instead, volumes are closer to the first third of the run. “We’ve never seen this high of female percentage and this lack of volume in the history of PWSAC,” said David Reggiani, general manager of the Prince Wiliam Sound Aquaculture Corporation. “The female percentages could give us a false reading on the timing, but typically you can take those percentages to the bank, so this anomaly has really got everybody concerned."
In related Alaskan salmon news, pinks that are getting landed are much larger than normal. Fishermen are reporting fish as large as 14 pounds with many clocking in at around 10 pounds. Meanwhile, the state's sockeye landings are higher than expected at 50 million fish so far. Elsewhere, the Yukon River chum salmon run is coming back larger than anticipated. A revision to the preseason projection has increased the run by roughly 29 percent. The chum return is an especially positive development for the commercial fishery in District 1.
Nissui and Maruha reported sharply diverging 1st quarter profit trends this week. Nissui says its profit fell, dragged down by weakness in the North American retail frozen food segment where prices have fallen. Maruha, on the other hand, is riding strong North American performance to increased profitability, largely based on a better mix of higher value products including salmon, crab and toothfish. Both companies were also impacted by the stronger yen- meaning lower profits from sales abroad.
Today marks the start to the fall lobster season in PEI's key fishing area 25, which will run until October 10. The region's lobstermen are unhappy that they will be operating under an increased minimum size requirement this fall, which they say could cut the catch as much as 10 percent. Meanwhile, lobster prices from Nova Scotia's the spring fishery trended higher with some fishermen saying it was a banner season for the industry.
Finally, the MSC denied it has ever campaigned against FDA Free tuna in a response to our July 29 column about the MSC and other NGO's approach to achieving sustainability across the global tuna industry. "Never has the MSC campaigned for FAD (Fish Aggregating Devices) free tuna, nor has the MSC ever promoted one fishing method above others. The MSC Fisheries Standard does not prohibit the use of FADs. The MSC’s requirements focus on the impacts of whichever fishing technique is used within the particular marine environment where the fishery operates," said Jon Corsiglia, the US Media Manager for the MSC.
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