It’s steady as she goes for the values of Alaska salmon fishing permits, with upticks in the wind at several fishing regions.
“There’s a lot of cautious optimism,” said Jeff Osborn of Dock Street Brokers in Seattle.
As well there should be after a salmon fishery that produced 225 million fish valued at nearly $680 million, a 67 percent increase over 2016.
Bristol Bay drift salmon permits trade more than any other due to the sheer volume (1,800) and it’s no surprise the value is increasing after one of the best fishing seasons ever. But they are not “rocketing up” in value, said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits at Homer.
“They’re over $140,000 right now, which is up from the start of the season when they were down around $130,000-$135,000,” Bowen said. “But they are inching up and it seems there’s as many people who want to get into the Bay as there are who want to get out, and so the prices have kind of stabilized.”
Osborn at Dock Street agreed.
“They haven’t come up at Bristol Bay as much as I would’ve anticipated, but maybe that’s yet to come,” he said, referring to potentially strong 2018 salmon forecasts being released soon by state fishery managers.
The trend appears similar for permit values at other major fishing regions.
“It’s interesting that some years there can be a huge difference between a drift gillnet permit at Bristol Bay, at Prince William Sound or Area M on the Alaska Peninsula. For whatever reason, this year they are all about in that same $140,000 range,” Bowen said.
Elsewhere, the slide in the value of Cook Inlet drift permits reflects three lousy salmon seasons, despite being able to stack permits and fish extra gear.
“That wasn’t enough to save the day,” Bowen said. “Those permits started at over $48,000 before the season after getting all the way down to the low to mid $30’s. They’ve inched back up to about $40,000 but that’s down from $60,000-$70,000 just a year or two ago.”
Kodiak seine permit values have increased from around $25,000 to over $30,000.
At Southeast Alaska, Bowen said there’s not a lot happening for drift permits at $100,000 and seine cards have “slipped a bit to the $180,000 range.”
Meanwhile, more fishing boat action is going on fueled by the extra $200 million or so circulating from a great salmon season.
“We’re seeing interest in buying and building new boats or upgrading to a bigger or newer boat,” Bowen said, adding “there is definitely movement with gillnetters and seiners.”
