Fire sale salmon prices last year and a dim outlook for the upcoming season have caused the value of Alaska fishing permits to plummet.

At the other extreme, the prices for halibut catch shares have soared to “unheard-of levels,” according to Olivia Olsen of Alaskan Quota and Permits at Petersburg.

Starting with salmon permits: “A lot of people had disastrous seasons last year, whether it was drift gillnet or seine permits, and the values have declined dramatically,” said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer.

At Alaska’s bellwether Bristol Bay fishery, a base sockeye price of 50 cents a pound helped push drift gillnet permit prices into the $98,000 range, down from $175,000 last spring.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News >>

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