Pacific Fishing | The Business Magazine for Fishermen | Featured Story

December 2023Featured Story | YEAR IN REVIEWA wild 2023Alaska fisheries hit market headwinds, California’s salmon fishery shuts down, a factory trawler burns, and a new ‘salmon jet’ takes to the skiesby WESLEY LOYAlaska’s enormous salmon harvest ran up against weak markets. Chris Miller photoHere’s our review of the major stories of 2023. Aside from our top story, we offer them in no particular order.••••Alaska produced an enormous harvest of more than 230 million salmon. Unfortunately, however, fishermen and processors slammed into adverse market conditions that took the luster off the season.“I’ve been in the industry a long time and I’ve never seen markets like this,” said Trident Seafoods CEO Joe Bundrant. Trident photoIt was the 10th time Alaska’s annual commercial salmon harvest exceeded 200 million fish.By species, pink salmon tallied more than 152 million fish, with sockeye totaling nearly 52 million.“International market conditions significantly impacted pricing of salmon stat...