Pure Alaska Salmon Company, LLC, greatly regrets the need for our price increases. The increases honestly reflect our increased costs, and these increased costs are due to a substantial shortfall in the 2018 Alaska salmon catch. Contributing to this shortfall is an ever increasing global demand for fresh or frozen Alaska salmon.
We are sorry on many levels. We are concerned about the health of wild salmon resource; what caused so few fish to return to their natal streams? Secondly, we are worried about the health of the commercial fishing fleet, including our family, as it takes a lot of capital to maintain a fishing boat, and lastly, but not least, we are concerned about the availability of this great food resource for people to enjoy. Canned wild Alaska salmon is such a great and affordable food choice, and we hate to see that accessibility diminished.
Erratic things do happen in nature, so we have learned not to jump to conclusions, but this season’s shortfall is undeniably troubling. It was such a dramatic decline and there are patterns in the way the salmon returned that are unusual.
We are not biologists, but as a fishing family we do listen with special attention to these issues. There are reported to be two deleterious forces at work; less precipitation to support the salmon streams and less food in the ocean for the migrating salmon. Both phenomena would seem to stem from a changing climate.
This summer, for instance, Southeast Alaska, site of one the world’s great rain forests, where the abundant snow and rain has made for the thousands of streams that support millions of salmon and the critters that eat those salmon—it was drought conditions. Without water in the streams, salmon cannot spawn and therefore do not reproduce. Mature salmon will tread water outside those dry streams waiting for adequate water and the longer they must wait, if the rainfall ever comes, the more the returning salmon lose strength to reproduce. The upper northern latitudes are warming at far more rapid rates than the rest of the globe.
Not only are spawning conditions more challenging, but for those salmon that do manage to make it back out to the ocean for the migratory phase of their existence, there has been less food available.
The so-called Warm Pacific Blob of 2013-14 moved through the North Pacific and greatly upset the food column. Warmer waters are not as fertile as colder waters. Warmer waters may have more varieties of fish, but colder waters support much larger volumes of fish. It was reported that in some areas of Alaska what few salmon returned, were severely under weight. Fish are coldblooded and the warmer water increases metabolism rates, hence increasing nutritional requirements. A less fertile ocean combined with fewer and hungrier fish is not a good combination.
With one very striking exception, the Alaska salmon catch for the 2018 season, fell far below the already mediocre predictions. Bristol Bay, the exception, had a record run of sockeye this year, but the rest of Alaska produced less than half the prediction. This shortfall was especially acute with pink salmon. In 2017, the pink salmon catch total was 135 million fish--- in 2018, it was a mere 38 million. The sockeye catch appears to be more robust, but only because certain rivers in the vast Bristol Bay region produced super abundances. The sockeye catch for the rest of Alaska was very poor. Bristol Bay sockeye largely goes to the fresh and frozen market, so canned product inventory is very slim.
In summation, these are the reasons that we know why the cost of canned salmon has increased so sharply. It is our hope that mankind takes in these troubling signals, sets aside politics and starts to do what we can do to minimize whatever our impact on natural cycles may be. It is simply the smart and right thing to do.
One thing remains the same—wild Alaska salmon is one of the most healthy and delicious proteins you can eat and even at these prices we would argue that it is still a great nutritional value.
P.S. The ‘Warm Pacific blob’ seems to be regrouping this fall.
Thanks so much for the article and I understand perfectly. But some of our political leaders don't believe in climate change. Time has already proven them wrong!
Hang in there. People, politicians can't stay dumb forever........ I hope.
No worries - if you want the best, then support those that provide the best.
Thank you for describing the changes in climate that are effecting the life cycle of the salmon population and habitat. So many environmentalists are trying to push for more human sensitivity to the climate as a whole but as we know policy plays a crucial role on our carbon footprint. I hope we can maintain a loud voice to protect our planet and all that depend on the homeostasis of the earth’s habitats.
Thank you
Thanks. I was gobsmacked by the jump in price of red salmon just this week. We make it into patties and get three individual meals per can. At that rate, it's still a great bargain.
Thank you for answering my question " Why did tinned salmon increase in price?" Here in New Zealand after the 2018 catch it doubled to $8.00 a 450g can. But I love it as a healthy food that an old bloke can digest. Good luck to all fishing families and businesses from the South Pacific.
Wonderful article
Thank you for letting consumers know why the price changed.
How did the 2019 and 2020 catches go? The price hasn't come back down, so I hope the catch hasn't turned permanently low. Now that the red salmon price has doubled, we use pink in cooking and only use red in salads and sandwiches.
Pink salmon catch is definitely down, with sockeye salmon catch more robust due to Bristol Bay's ( NO! on Pebble Mine!), extraordinary salmon runs. Prices are soon going to inch up some more, sorry to say. Canned wild salmon, given the nutritional value is still a bargain.