Good time to buy wild B.C. sockeye: retailer
Experts agree the time is right if only because the supply will likely dry up in the coming weeks
Brian Morton
Vancouver Sun
Thursday, July 10, 2008
CREDIT: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
North Vancouver fish retailer Kosta Zogaris said that despite predictions of a sockeye shortage this year, so far there's plenty to go around.
If you've got a taste for wild B.C. sockeye salmon, now might be the best time of this year to head down to the local fish market.
That's the word from North Vancouver fish retailer Kosta Zogaris, who said in an interview Wednesday that despite predictions of a sockeye shortage this year, so far there's plenty to go around.
"I've been in this business for 35 years," said Zogaris, known as Kosta the Fishmonger. "Every year there's a prediction [of a salmon shortage] and it [the fishery] has never been dead yet. They said they weren't even going to open the Nass River. So far, it hasn't been bad at all."
Zogaris, who runs The Salmon Shop and Screamin' Mimi's at Lonsdale Quay, said prices are about the same as last year -- between $15.99 and $17.99 a fillet, or $3.52 per 100 grams. That amounts to $16 per pound.
"We've had three openings in the Nass in Prince Rupert. As a retailer, I've had no problems getting salmon whatsoever."
However, at least one large chain was advertising wild B.C. sockeye for less than $7 a pound.
Grant Snell, general manager of the B.C. Salmon Marketing Council, agreed that now is an opportune time to buy wild B.C. sockeye, if only because the supply will likely dry up in the coming weeks.
"I think it's a great time," said Snell in an interview. "We have the availability of the Nass [sockeye], and probably the Skeena in the next two weeks. That's when the supply will dry up. There's estimated to be no harvest at all from the Fraser River sockeye.
"And I love the Nass River sockeye. It's one of the tastier ones."
David Einarson, chief resource manager for the department of fisheries and oceans, north coast region, said the Nass River run is below average, as predicted. "Usually we've had a commercial surplus of approximately 200,000 [sockeye]. This year we're predicting 100,000. The commercial harvest in the Nass [so far] is just over 18,000.
"It's not a good year. It's half of what the average is, but it certainly isn't a disaster. It's below average, with a modest surplus."
However, Einarson agreed that availability of sockeye will drop in the coming weeks. He said the Fraser River run at the end of July is expected to have no commercial surplus at all because well-below-average numbers are predicted for sockeye returning to the river.
"In August there will be less Canadian sockeye because of the Fraser," he said, adding that retailers may not be seeing any shortages yet.
Snell said there's a reason the sockeye are readily available in local fish stores despite the smaller Nass catch. "When you have smaller harvests, you don't have the export numbers. So you have more available locally.
"And 18,000 fish is certainly adequate for local markets."
Snell said that prices are about the same as last year. "And that's surprising. I thought they'd be higher, because of the supply and demand and because of fuel costs."
Snell was also surprised at some of the price variations, with Save-On-Foods advertising a sale this week of wild B.C. sockeye for $1.49 per 100 grams or about $6.70 a pound -- considerably lower than prices in the smaller fish stores. He said one reason could be that "larger stores have better buying power because of the volumes they're prepared to buy."An official of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union said the Nass run has not been good for local fishermen.
"It's the most dismal fishing I've ever heard of at this time of year," said Joy Thorkelson in an interview. "There's been three openings and there's been 100 sockeye each on average for fishermen for the total openings."
Fisheries economist Edwin Blewett said recently that the combination of climate change and changing ocean conditions coupled with a low year in the cycle for B.C. salmon is behind this year's poor returns.
Sockeye salmon from Russia and the U.S. are also being imported to B.C. and showing up in Metro Vancouver fish markets.
"The U.S. fish are cheaper, but they don't compare to the taste of a Nass River sockeye," said Zogaris.
bmorton@png.canwest.com© The Vancouver Sun 2008
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