You won’t see much local salmon in Whatcom grocery stores. It’s not just COVID’s fault
Commercial fishing isn’t catching a break in this pandemic year.
While fishing fleets in Alaska reported good returns in the Bristol Bay, other parts of the salmon run in that region have reportedly not gone so well. Low return numbers in the area have closed the Fraser River salmon run, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as reported by Canadian media in late July.
This means Whatcom residents won’t see much local salmon this year in grocery stores, said Pete Granger. He’s a reef net fisherman with strong ties to the local industry, including being a part of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom County.
“We’re not even putting boats on the water this summer,” Granger said.
The low numbers of Fraser River sockeye is not totally unexpected; the fish are offspring of the 2016 run, which had the second-lowest return run ever recorded, according to Canadian data. Granger said a large rock slide that went into the river is also hampering the salmon run, leading to officials being cautious and closing the run to fishing.
When coming back to the Fraser River, the salmon tend to take two routes: One around the southern part of Vancouver Island through the waters of San Juan Islands or around the northern part of Vancouver Island through Canadian waters.
With little local U.S. commercial fishing to be done, Granger said most of the Bellingham fleet will probably stay in Alaska until the end of August, looking for chum salmon.
The slower fishing season locally will mean some pivoting in places like Bellingham Cold Storage. It’s also berry harvest season, and while it’s still early, BCS is seeing signs of a strong blueberry harvest and a lighter raspberry harvest, said Doug Thomas, company president.
Given all the extra expenses from the COVID-19 pandemic safety cleaning and regulations, it’s making for a challenging season.
“We really need a breather at some point and are very hopeful that we get to the finishing phases sooner rather than later,” Thomas said in an email.
The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported that Bristol Bay was shaping up to be the lone bright spot for the commercial fishing season, with the harvest slightly ahead of the preseason forecast. Even so, prices remain down because of fluctuations in the market during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with restaurant sales and cruise ship bookings being hit hard this year.
To help support the local commercial fishing fleet, the Working Waterfront Coalition is in contact with the Port of Bellingham to figure out options, said Deb Granger, a founding member of the group. Deb Granger said they are looking at ideas like more direct off-the-boat sales and food trucks.
The port is receptive to the idea and is working on plans, said Mike Hogan, agency spokesman. Along with the Working Waterfront, the port is also holding discussions with the Lummi Nation, whose fishing fleet is also impacted this season.
“This group of working waterfront stakeholders wants to expand direct sales from commercial fishing vessels as soon as possible with more vessels, more types of seafood and a broader marketing effort,” Hogan said in an email.
