San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Salmon season in uncertain times
Fishers are navigating a new set of challenges.
Even as a global pandemic reshapes how local consumers are buying king salmon, and Bay Area fishers continue navigating the impact of May’s devastating Pier 45 fire in San Francisco, the general consensus within the local fishing industry is that it’s still too early to call the 2020 salmon season a boom or a bust.
Instead, the season can be best described as “unpredictable.”
California’s commercial salmon season began May 1 for the coast from Pigeon Point in San Mateo County to the southern border and then expanded farther north, which means Bay Area residents have been able to purchase salmon for a little more than two months in local markets. The regions shut down on June 30 and will reopen for fishing Monday. And while the hauls so far have been hit and miss, according to local fishers, salmon remains in demand in the Bay Area.
What has changed this season is how fishers are getting their catches to consumers. Restaurants in some Bay Area counties, which are pivotal to sales within the local salmon industry, slowly began reopening last month. But on July 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered 19 counties with surging coronavirus outbreaks to close indoor restaurants, thus again cutting off a muchneeded revenue stream for the industry. Restaurants in the Bay Area regularly buy salmon from local boats, but now the boats are pinning their financial futures on sales at local grocery stores.
“I would say the season is off to a slow start, but given the history of catch rates and weather patterns, it’s too early to really call it a bad year,” said Sarah Bates, who fishes out of San Francisco. “Plus, we’re all still seeing how people are consuming salmon is just different. Instead of at a restaurant, they may be barbecuing at home with six friends. That makes a difference on how we can get it to them.”
According to local fishers, salmon hauls are netting them around $10.99 per pound at the docks so far this season, which is higher than what was seen in past seasons. Prices to consumers vary. At the Seafood Center on Clement Street, for example, wild king salmon from Half Moon Bay recently cost $24.99 per pound. At Marina Meats on Chestnut Street, local king salmon was $34.99 per pound. (We have included three recipes to provide ideas on how to prepare this seasonal delicacy at home.)
July is usually a big month for salmon season, due to warm southern water pushing north and concentrating schools of salmon, making hauls more plentiful. Still, it isn’t possible to predict prices for both for fishers and consumers, according to Mike Conroy, executive director of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.
“There’s just a lot of uncertainty, especially with what’s happening with restaurants, so there will definitely be the same uncertainty as we approach the next opener,” Conroy said. “The market opened at around $4.75 for the fishermen this season, so it’s getting better. And it helps that around now is when the catches usually ramp up.”
The 2020 salmon seasons, both sport and commercial, are no stranger to uncertainty. Before the recreational season began in May, the sport season was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has touched every aspect of the industry. A normal commercial salmon season can typically generate upward of $100 million per year in sales.
In addition to economic impacts from the pandemic, the devastating fouralarm fire at Pier 45 in May tore through a storage facility filled with the fishing and crabbing gear of more than 30 tenants. The equipment lost in the fire was worth millions, according to several local fishers, including Bates.
A final key indicator of the salmon season’s success simply relies on the size of the hauls fishers are bringing into the docks, which Conroy said are somewhat smaller, locally, than they have been in past years. But it isn’t an alarming dropoff, he added.
“That’s why it’s called fishing, and not catching,” Conroy said. “We’ll just have to see what happens in the coming weeks.”