Something sounds a bit fishy about this....

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddri...?ocid=msedgdhp

11 pounds of Alaskan salmon is worth more that two barrels of oil..

Time to go fishing.....-Tyr

[jimnyc]

$116 for an 11lb Salmon?? WTF?

Hey Rick @NightTrain - We need to hit a special place, whatever you know, and then hit wherever these docks are!! Damn, I'll electrocute the river and watch them all float to the top and off to the bank I go!!

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

$116 for an 11lb Salmon?? WTF?

Hey Rick @NightTrain - We need to hit a special place, whatever you know, and then hit wherever these docks are!! Damn, I'll electrocute the river and watch them all float to the top and off to the bank I go!!

Hey Jim, how many fish would it take to pay for the flight there and back?
Maybe two good days Salmon fishing and you pay for everything and also have a very tidy surplus to boot ! -Tyr

[jimnyc]

Hey Jim, how many fish would it take to pay for the flight there and back?
Maybe two good days Salmon fishing and you pay for everything and also have a very tidy surplus to boot ! -Tyr

20 good sized salmon and I get free round trip tickets and first class all the way around!!

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

20 good sized salmon and I get free round trip tickets and first class all the way around!!

That is just ten a day for two days. Third day- a good haul would give a very nice profit.
And it is fishing-its not like it is work......
Has to be some kind of catch to it or else everybody would be doing it methinks ..-Tyr

[NightTrain]

Well.... there's some misinformation here, mostly due to a Lower 48 guy not knowing the differences within the same species :

Which item do you think is worth more: A single Alaska salmon or two barrels of oil? .According to the latest stats from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, it's the fish.The average chinook salmon weighs around 11 pounds and is worth $116.16 at the docks.And the two barrels of oil are only worth $115.48 right now.That's not totally surprising; salmon sales have increased significantly over the past year.And industry analysts feel optimistic that seafood-related categories will continue to see sales jumps in 2021

Alaska Kings are a lot bigger than the Lower 48 variety. Ours get up to 130# and over 5' long... I think the average is 40 pounds or so.

Those salmon that they're talking about are being caught out in the saltwater before they make their runs up the rivers to spawn. The meat is higher quality - more fat content - because they don't eat once they start heading up the freshwater rivers. They die from starvation and no one knows why... kind of a shame, really.

That's $10.56 / pound at the docks.

The White King that Jim caught above the cabin is going for $40 / pound right now. I think that was a 30# King, so I suppose it is worth $1200 right now.

Not a bad day's work drinking beer, boating through whitewater and fishing!

[NightTrain]

Has to be some kind of catch to it or else everybody would be doing it methinks ..-Tyr

Oh my, yes, there's more than a few catches. Selling your salmon means you're a commercial fisherman, and there are many, many hoops to jump through.

It's a very regulated industry and the State of AK is very active in policing things - they have to because there's a ton of money to be made, and the urge to cheat seduces more than a few formerly honest skippers.

An oceangoing fishing boat is extremely expensive, not to mention the permit which is several hundred thousand dollars.


Watch this video from last year - it begins with them all waiting for the opening time to arrive. At the 2:00 mark utter pandemonium ensues! These guys actively ram these very expensive boats into each other, run over each other's gear, anything they can do to get an advantage.

There's nothing gentlemanly about commercial fishing.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Very interesting video-thanks...
Yep, I knew there had to be a catch to it.
That looked to me like it is a nasty piece of work. Definitely a fine illustration of greed at work.
Those boats looked like a pack of wolves fighting over a carcass.
Except that wolves do not fight over the kil--they follow a pecking order in the feeding chain.
As Nature sets that to insure they do not harm each other , harm the pack-- but obviously man does not work that way.-Tyr

[NightTrain]

Very interesting video-thanks...
Yep, I knew there had to be a catch to it.
That looked to me like it is a nasty piece of work. Definitely a fine illustration of greed at work.
Those boats looked like a pack of wolves fighting over a carcass.
Except that wolves do not fight over the kil--they follow a pecking order in the feeding chain.
As Nature sets that to insure they do not harm each other , harm the pack-- but obviously man does not work that way.-Tyr

Yeah, I guess that's one way of looking at it. I look at it as raw competition and only the most skilled, bold and experienced skippers with the best equipment will emerge with a nice profit to pay for that boat, gear and crew.

Most fisheries don't allow this kind of chaos, there are rules about how close you can be to another vessel to prevent this kind of pandemonium.

But there are these free-for-all events here and there. I think Bristol Bay is another unrestricted fishery, or at least it used to be. I've been told many stories of the shenanigans done to outmaneuver the competition by the fishermen involved, and it's fascinating. Outright ramming, deliberately destroying nets & gear, sneaking into the Forbidden Zone in the middle of the night to get a head start (Fish & Game LOVE catching you pull this one), vessels seized by the State, lawsuits, all of it.

It's kind of the Wild West on water. Only the best will emerge victorious, but there's enough luck involved for a little guy to strike it rich, too, which attracts a lot of hopeful participants with questionable equipment and tactics.

It's even more entertaining these days with drones & HD cameras to see what these fierce competitors get up to.

I did a bit of commercial fishing as a young man - Halibut long-lining, not salmon gillnetting - and I can say it's some of the hardest work you can find. And some of the most lucrative if you're good enough to get on with a talented and bold Skipper who will do everything he can to make sure you all go home with $100k+ in the bank.

[gabosaurus]

That is a remarkable video. I always thought of fishing as a very sedate activity. Obviously not in some cases.

[LongTermGuy]

$116 for an 11lb Salmon?? WTF?

Hey Rick @NightTrain - We need to hit a special place, whatever you know, and then hit wherever these docks are!! Damn, I'll electrocute the river and watch them all float to the top and off to the bank I go!!

wait...what ..electrocute...?
No green garbage for me...Use dynamite ..."shock" `em to the surface and or scoop `em up where they lay...

[jimnyc]

Electrofishing!!

Think of the salmon as $100 bills. Look at all of this money, just net 'em up and count the bills! Sure the fine is pretttttty hefty if nabbed!