In a press release issued last week, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced an increase in the 2017 commercial salmon harvests of about 81 percent above last year's catch of 112.5 million salmon.
Of the 204 million salmon expected to land in Alaska next year, 40.8 million sockeye are anticipated, an incredible disparity from recent catch totals for the species.
Domestic inventories of sockeye appear to be depleted, with #2s making up the bulk of live offers.
H&G prices are creeping up to the high $3s for 4-6s and we see room for strengthening still.
Overall, we have seen more sockeye fillets in the market this past season that recent years - with 1-3lb IVP fillets at the $6.85 mark in Vancouver right now.
As as result of more filleting, there are opportunities on trim and scrape meat offers, with prices ranging from the high $2s to the low-to-mid $3s.
In the pink
In other salmon news, 142 million pink salmon are expected to land in Alaska in 2017 after a dismal season in 2016 of only 39 million fish harvested.
Pink salmon is always stronger in odd-numbered years, but the disparity between projected and actual catch last year was worse than anticipated.
H&G pricing on pinks has ranged from $1.57 - $1.70 per pound for 3 pound ups, whereas smaller single frozen IVP fillets were around $2.70 last month in Vancouver.
Chum inventories are also light, with pales making up 90 percent of the product in the market at the moment.
Pale meat colour 6-9lb chums are approaching $1.60 on the West Coast, with under 6lb-ers around $1.15 per pound.
Check back in a few weeks for an updated report on salmon inventories and pricing as we expect to see some come out of the woodworks.
For a videolink of the latest Tradex report click here.
