Virtual BBRSDA Town Hall Info

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BBRSDA will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, March 25 at 2pm (AKT). This Town Hall is open to the public and all Bristol Bay fishermen are encouraged to attend. This meeting will update Bristol Bay fishermen on BBRSDA activities, provide important information about mitigation and response planning for the COVID-19 pandemic, and feature a Pebble Mine update from Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay…

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BBFA Prices Now Available to All

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BBRSDA is sponsoring ex-vessel price reporting from the Bristol Bay FIshermen’s Association (BBFA) to make them available to all S03T permit holders. Click on this LINK to see ex-vessel price data for 2018 and 2019, including information on chilling/quality bonuses by processor. Prices for the 2020 season will be available once prices are announced and will be updated as data/info becomes available.

Market Analysis & Data Updated

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Visit our ‘Market & Value Info’ webpage for more updated market data.

With several months of data now available, it’s a good time to check in on wholesale market conditions pertaining to the 2019 harvest. In general, the pace of wholesale sales appears to be lagging last year slightly and frozen H&G sockeye prices are down. U.S. export volume of frozen H&G sockeye fell 5% during the July-November 2019 period, compared to the previous year. Export value declined by 15% and the average export price was down 9%. Wholesale prices for the 2019 sales season are generally lower than 2018, but above those seen in 2017.

Multiple sources report that 4-6lb. and 6-9lb. sizes of frozen H&G sockeye are moving well, but a sizeable quantity of smaller 2-4lb. fish remains. We’ll have to wait until late February when the State of Alaska posts total wholesale sales data to have a better understanding of frozen fillet sales and a more complete picture for other products, including frozen H&G sockeye. Farmed salmon prices lagged the previous year from July-November 2019 but have increased significantly since then and are now running higher than the previous year.  

BBRSDA’s marketing team has been working hard to step up promotions and build greater, more durable demand. We coordinated Bristol Bay sockeye promotions with 14 major retail partners at nearly 1,000 stores across the country in 2019. Last year's participating retailers included Costco, Earth Fare, H-E-B, Harris Teeter, Market Basket, New Seasons Market, QFC, Raley’s, Rouses, Rosauers, and Wegmans. An average sales volume increase of 34% was reported from participating retailers across market demographics in 2019. We started 2020 at full throttle too, with promotions scheduled at four different retail chains this month. The response from retailers, qualitatively and quantitatively, has been excellent.

“Our experience with Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon promotions have been overwhelmingly positive, and we have gotten tremendous response from our customers,” said Paul McLean, Earth Fare’s Senior Director of Fresh, Meat, and Seafood. “We more than doubled our sockeye sales compared to the previous sales periods, and we are eager to provide our shoppers with this quality product in the new year.”

BBRSDA promotional efforts include funding sales contests, branded point-of-sale assets, targeted digital advertising, in-store cooking demonstrations, and more, allowing retailers an à la carte style menu of options to tailor efforts to their unique market’s customers. High quality imagery, video, and point-of-sale materials bolster all promotional activities and make Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon stand out in stores and at seafood counters. For an example of our work, check out this great video we made in Bristol Bay last summer with Raley’s, a California-based retailer.

It's important to note that while executing retail promotions certainly moves more volume through the supply chain, the primary goal of BBRSDA’s marketing program is to build lasting demand and create new customers for Bristol Bay sockeye. Building a recognizable, premium brand is a long-term effort that might not solve all short-term market fluctuations, but we believe the program is providing and will continue to provide our members a healthy return on their investment in BBRSDA.

New BBRSDA Waypoints Newsletter is Out

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A new edition of the BBRSDA Waypoints newsletter is now available (link). Read all about BBRSDA’s upcoming FY20 projects, ice project RFPs, changes to the CFEC permit renewal process, and get more info about our last remaining RSW for sale. If you’re a Bristol Bay fisher or want to follow BBRSDA activities, feel free to sign up for our Waypoints newsletter here and we’ll send you each e-newsletter right to your inbox.

Photo Contest winners

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Out of 210 photo submissions from 36 individuals, we have five winners in five categories and an overall winner. See our full album on Facebook to view all the winners, click HERE.

Overall Winner: Bethany Branstiter (pictured)

Fishing
1st - Ian Vincent
2nd - Kathrine Carscallen
3rd - Jo-Anne Dixon
4th - Emily Ekbom
5th- Perry Broadrick

Kids & Animals
1st - Shannon Ford
2nd - Kathrine Carscallen
3rd - Jon Jeremy Larsen
4th - Bethany Branstiter
5th - Shannon Ford

Portraits
1st - Chris Rhoads
2nd - Lindsey Bloom
3rd - Shannon Ford
4th - Lukas Strickland
5th - Bethany Branstiter

Scenic
1st - Bethany Branstiter
2nd - Ian Vincent
3rd - Kathrine Carscallen
4th - Sandy Coghill
5th - Bethany Branstiter

Sockeye
1st - Frances Bursch
2nd - Frances Bursch
3rd - Emily Mayer
4th - Frances Bursch
5th - Emily Mayer