Alaska aquaculture produces most salmon
fishfarmingxpert, Odd Grydeland
Hatchery fish is estimated to make up about 72 per cent of the landed value of salmon caught in Prince William Sound this year. Approximately 1.5 billion fish have been produced and released by aquaculture operators in Alaska every year in recent memory
While the official position claimed by Alaska and its fishing industry is that the State doesn’t allow fish or salmon farming, the numbers speak a different story. A new report produced by the McDowell Group, Inc. for the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp. (PWSAC) shows that salmon produced in the organization’s hatcheries and floating net pens could account for 30 per cent of all salmon caught in Alaska this year. The fish are let go to forage in the ocean for a period before being caught on their return to the hatchery or fish farm.
The majority of these salmon are pink and chum salmon, which are easy to raise in hatcheries, but that usually fetch a relatively low price per pound. PWSAC-raised pink salmon is estimated to represent some 54 per cent of all pink salmon being caught in Alaska this year.
