The summer salmon season for Alaska and Russia is essentially over with both countries seeing record lows - both realizing only about 70 percent of their forecast.

For Alaska, less than 100 million salmon have been landed which is 132 million less than last year, and would be the lowest for Alaska since 1988. All salmon species in Alaska were reported smaller in size this year. Looking at 2023 data, Coho, Pink, Chum, and King salmon all averaged smaller than both 5 and 10 year averages, whereas Sockeye on average was actually slightly higher than both 5 and 10 year averages.



For Russia, latest reports are that 215,000 metric tonnes have been landed which is over 390,000 metric tonnes less than last year, and would be the lowest salmon harvest for Russia since 2004. Fish sizes for 2023 all saw the 3 main species harvested in Russia less than the 5 and 10 year averages for Pink, Chum, and Sockeye.



The last large salmon fishery for the year is the Fall Hokkaido Chum salmon fishery and the latest pulse is that the season is off to a very slow start. Preseason run size forecast into Hokkaido were for 17.03 million fish, which is down 24.5 percent from last year. Last year, about 60,000 metric tonnes of Chum Salmon were harvested in Japan from about 19.4 million fish - which is below both 5 and 10 year averages.

Regarding the salmon fisheries in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, while their harvests don't significantly impact global supplies, they collectively produced approximately 9,000 metric tonnes last year.

On the market side, Sockeye, Chum and Pink salmon are exceptionally short and pricing is seeing upward pressures accordingly with limited supply.



Our recommendation is to buy what you can for your needs for fish you need to last you until the end of next summer.

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