2020 season harvest totals 110 million fish.
Despite COVID, which threatened Alaska’s wild salmon fishing season, roughly 83 per-cent of the preseason forecast was caught.
The Alaskan Seafood Marketing Institute reports that 227,000 tonnes of fish were landed, the most of it being sockeye (48 per-cent), followed by pinks at 40 per-cent.
In response to COVID-19, the state of Alaska imposed restrictions on the industry, including quarantines and social distancing mandates. Processors have also incurred significant costs. Cooke/Ocean Beauty joint venture OBI Seafoods who had to temporarily shut down a salmon processing plant in Seward, Alaska, in July because 96 seafood workers tested positive for COVID 19.
Eight retail chains containing over 1,200 individual stores hosted branded Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon promotions or promoted salmon from Bristol Bay.
In press release, Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association wrote that across the U.S, “a steady increase in consumer demand continues to drive strong sales of Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon at retail, with numerous retailers promoting fresh sockeye from Bristol Bay through the summer months.”
