Radio Script
1998

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Good Salmon Runs
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STORY: For Patrick Wilson, who manages Petersburg Fisheries in Southeast Alaska, the problem isn't too few fish, it's not enough people to process the catch.

WILSON: "The problem that's facing a lot of people is not so much a shortage of fish as a shortage of workers. The run has come in as expected. It looks like it will be close to what the Fish and Game Department had forecast."

Normally, Wilson hires some 500 seasonal employees--mostly adventure-seeking college students--to work the so-called "slime-lines," where they slice off salmon heads and remove salmon entrails. But this year, a robust U.S. economy has made jobs in Alaska less attractive. Wilson says he's had to sweeten the $6.50-an-hour salary and pay airfare and lodging to attract workers.

WILSON: "When we saw some of the problems caused by the shortage we ended up having to bring people in from throughout the state. We normally don't pay airfare but we had to respond to this crisis to make sure we keep the fleet fishing and everyone working and product going through the door. We ended up flying people in from Nome, Kotzebue, Dillingham, and Fairbanks to work the salmon season here."

While places like Bristol Bay and the Yukon River have been declared disaster areas because of low salmon returns, processors elsewhere in the state have more fish than they can handle. Southeast Alaska, for example, is well on its way to harvesting some 35 million pink salmon. Scott Marshall is the Southeast Alaska regional supervisor for the Department of Fish and Game.

MARSHALL: "The last five to ten years have seen near record levels of catches. This year is not going to match the 50-60 million pink salmon we've seen in the past, but a run of 30 to 35 million is still a lot of pink salmon."

Marshall says things are looking up for other salmon species as well.

MARSHALL: "Hatchery production of chum salmon has been enormous this year in the region, like it has been the last couple of years. They are a real bright spot. And all indications are that we'll have a good coho run."

A thousand miles across the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak Island fishermen and processors are coping with a record number of pink salmon and a better than average sockeye run. Wayne Donaldson is the fisheries manager with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He says harvests have outpaced preseason forecasts.

DONALDSON: "Yeah, we've got a record for an even-year pink salmon return, which is good. Pink salmon, the mid-point forecast was 6.4 million. And so far we've got 20 million. Sockeye, the preseason forecast was 2.3 million. And right now we're running at 3.3 million."

The Copper River sockeye salmon run also is shaping up well, with some 1.3 million sockeyes landed as of the end of August. Still, as large as some salmon runs are this summer in parts of the state, prices paid to fishermen are low. Fishermen may have more fish to catch, but the 12 to 15 cents a pound being paid for pink salmon doesn't mean more money in their pockets. Kodiak's Wayne Donaldson.

DONALDSON: "The value of the salmon is down and that's hurting everyone statewide. They've at least had some volume here to help out with the low prices. They are by no means having record incomes. You don't see people out buying new pickup trucks."

OUTRO: For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Doug Schneider, reporting from Fairbanks, Alaska.