The prices of farmed Atlantic salmon has gone up anywhere from 50 to 75 cents a pound in the past few weeks, and wild Pacific salmon is at an all-time high. Many retailers are absorbing more of the increase than they are passing on. It is said that the main cause for such drastic increase in the prices of salmon is the closure of California’s wild salmon fisheries.
The closure has affected the salmon catch badly and the caught off the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada from spring through fall in scores of discrete “runs.” Before fishing begins, the National Marine Fisheries measures how many salmon are returning and decides whether there are enough of them to permit commercial fishing. The two anti-salmon forces – the destruction of spawning habitats and decreases in ocean upwelling – appear to abate the farther north the fishermen go.
Bruce Sasso, owner of Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett, told that as Pacific salmon price goes up, the demand for less expensive Atlantic salmon rises, as does its price. He said that the rise in wholesale price do not pass on to the consumer.
