Project Reports - Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association

2023 Project Reports & Presentations

Port Moller Test Fishery
The primary goal of the Port Moller Test Fishery (PMTF) is to predict run strength of Sockeye Salmon traveling past Port Moller approximately one week prior to their arrival in the various terminal commercial fishing districts of Bristol Bay. PMTF gives Bristol Bay fishermen, processors, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) time to respond to suspected departures from the preseason forecasts. The Port Moller Test Fishery has two vessels (R/V Ocean Cat and the R/V Miss Leona) that test fish out from Port Moller. The onboard lab on one of the vessels provides laboratory analysis for stock composition estimates. Read a summary of the 2023 test fishery season here.

2022 Price Report
BBRSDA contracted with Ocean Strategies to conduct a post-season survey of the Bristol Bay fleet with a focus on price, incentives and services offered to fishermen. This report reflects the responses and information provided by the respondents and has not been verified with the processors in Bristol Bay. The information in the report comes from 101 responses collected from S03T permit holders between October 13 – November 1, 2022.

Read 2023 Test Fishery Season Summary

2022 Project Reports & Presentations

Port Moller Test Fishery
BBRSDA supported the Port Moller test fishery through two important projects in 2022, the Onboard Genetic Analysis Project and the charter of a new vessel, the R/V Halfmoon Bay.

Report: Northern Economics 2021 Processor Survey (Posted February 2022) Prepared by Northern Economics, Inc., the annual processor survey gathers prior season information from Bristol Bay processors. This survey captures raw product data, finished product forms, chilled product volumes and quality impact, ice production capacity, and respondents’ opinions of trends and priorities within the fishery.

Download: Northern Economics 2021 Processor Survey

2021 Project Reports & Presentations

Explanation of Fishery Price & Options for Fleet Consideration – White Paper
After a low ex-vessel price in 2020, this paper addresses “what is going on” by summarizing market conditions and offers a list of options for fleet consideration, so the fleet may decide “what can be done”.
Summary
Full White Paper

Download White Paper

Report: 2021 Year-end Marketing Report – Prepared by Rising Tide Communications. Despite the continued global pandemic, the BBRSDA marketing program had another successful year. On the retail side, Bristol Bay grew from 2,200 promotions in 2020 to 3,296 promotions in 2021 – a nearly 50% increase. The average “lift” experienced by our retail partners during our promotions is 42%.

Download: 2021 Year-end Marketing Report

Report: Northern Economics 2020 Processor Survey (Posted May 2021) Prepared by Northern Economics, Inc., the annual processor survey gathers prior season information from Bristol Bay processors. This survey captures raw product data, finished product forms, chilled product volumes and quality impact, ice production capacity, and respondents’ opinions of trends and priorities within the fishery.

Download: Northern Economics 2020 Processor Survey

2020 Project Reports & Presentations

Report: 2020 Year-end Marketing Report (Posted Feb 2021) Prepared by Rising Tide Communications. Although there was a lot of uncertainty and difficult decisions in 2020, the marketing program is forging ahead with lots of great tools to continue to promote Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon and connect with industry and consumers alike.

Download: 2020 Year-end Marketing Report

UW Lifecycle Assessment Research – Assessing the environmental footprint of the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery by Dr. Ray Hilborn, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington. This work was utilized in subsequent research publications, see links below:

Friederike Ziegler, Ray Hilborn, Fished or farmed: Life cycle impacts of salmon consumer decisions and opportunities for reducing impacts, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 854, 2023, 158591, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158591.
Mark T. Brown, Silvio Viglia, Dave Love, Frank Asche, Elizabeth Nussbaumer, Jillian Fry, Ray Hilborn, Roni Neff, Quantifying the environmental support to wild catch Alaskan sockeye salmon and farmed Norwegian Atlantic Salmon: An emergy approach, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 369, 2022, 133379, ISSN 0959-6526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133379.
Bianchi, M., Hallström, E., Parker, R.W.R. et al. Assessing seafood nutritional diversity together with climate impacts informs more comprehensive dietary advice. Commun Earth Environ 3, 188 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00516-4.
Silvio Viglia, Mark T. Brown, David C. Love, Jillian Fry, Roni A. Neff, Ray Hilborn, Wild caught Alaska sockeye salmon: A case study of the food energy water nexus for a sustainable wild catch fishery, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 369, 2022, 133263, LINK.
Ray Hilborn Presentation to BBRSDA (slide deck): Assessing the environmental footprint of the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery. November 2020, LINK.

VIDEO: Stop Pebble Mine TV Spot – BBRSDA produced a television commercial which aired in Alaska during October 2020, highlighting the important value of pristine salmon habitat in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Watch: Stop Pebble Mine TV Spot