Some Great Information About Alaska Salmon Fishery
May 4th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »In Alaska, salmon come first. Alaska has a long and successful track record of handling and conserving its abundant salmon resources. Record salmon runs with an average annual catch of 165 million salmon is the explanation of this successful approach.
Nearly 95% of all commercially caught salmon in the States are cropped in Alaska. Alaska is the top producer of wild, high-value salmon, producing nearly 80 percent of the world supply of king, sockeye, and coho. Alaska’s commercial salmon fishery is vital to the Alaskan economy and the Alaskan way of life.
Each year, the salmon industry provides thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s economy. Commercial fishing is critical to communities and fishing
families across the state.
Alaska’s fishing industry leads the state in providing 47% of non-public sector jobs, and is second only to the oil industry in providing income to the state. In 2002, the exvessel value for combined fisheries totaled $955 million with $162 million from salmon.
Salmon fishing permits are given out to individuals, not firms, thru the “limited entry permit system”. The total number of available permits for each fishery is precisely limited. Fishermen may not own more than one salmon permit for a similar gear type and area. This creates a fishery made from many people and families.
Three main gear types catch Alaska salmon: trolling, gillnetting, and purse seining. All commercial salmon fishing boats are relatively small vessels; averaging thirty to fifty feet.
Trollers use long trolling poles to drag or troll 2 to 4 deep weighted lines through the water, each with eight – twelve leaders attached. At the end of each leader there’s a lure or baited hook. Boat size varies from little skiffs to vessels of fifty feet or more with lots ranging between twenty-five to forty feet.
Trollers essentially target king, coho, and pink salmon as they enter Alaskan waters on their way to the spawning grounds. Trollers catch a relatively low volume of fine quality fish. The fish they catch are bright and vigorous from fresh sea waters. They are regularly
sold dressed, or filleted in the fresh or fresh frozen market.
Gillnetters set curtain-like nets in the water suspended from a float line at the surface and a weighted lead line along the submerged lower edge. Nets vary in length from 900 to 1800 feet long. The net’s mesh openings are just big sufficient to allow an adult fish head to get thru and become trapped at the gills.
There are 2 kinds of gillnets; driftnets that are free floating from boats, and setnets that have one end attached to the coast. Ship size is limited to 32 feet or less in Bristol Bay ; otherwise, the average range is thirty to forty feet. Gillnetters basically crop sockeye, chum and coho.
Purse Seiners employ a huge floating net, pulled and set in circle by a power skiff, to surround schooling salmon. The weighted “purse line” at bottom of the net is drawn closed to contain the fish. The net full of fish is then gathered to the ship thru a highpowered hydraulic block.
Purse seiners are not authorized north of the Alaska Peninsula; boat size is restricted to 58 feet. Purse Seiners crop principally pink salmon close to the shoreline and close to fresh water spawning grounds where runs are highly concentrated.
For more easy to make recipes, visit cooking101.org and also read about baked salmon fillet.