Higher BC sockeye prices due to low return
Posted August 15, 2013 12:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – You can expect to pay more for salmon at the store because of this year’s low sockeye return.
Mary Ellen Walling with the BC Salmon Farmers Association explains the low run in BC is not just a local problem and it is also pushing up the price.
“The sockeye runs way up north in the Skeena are low. The [fish] out of Bristol Bay, Alaska is down 30 to 35 per cent over last year. Russia has got a limited number of fish in the market. They are down about 40 per cent over all their salmon fisheries.”
Looking for another option? We’re seeing an all-time high in pink, coho and chinook returns.
“Pink salmon is quite a good fish to eat but a lot of it goes into cans. If handled properly it can be quite a good fish. There is also some good coho in the marketplace,” adds Walling.
Initially, the Fisheries Department thought this year’s sockeye run would be 4.7 million, but that was cut in half. The warm water temperatures in the Fraser River is partially being blamed.
A ban on salmon fishing in the Fraser River goes into effect tonight.
