Seattle Seafood Chain Ivar’s Raises Considerations Over Shrinking Salmon from Alaska

Something worrisome is happening with the size of the salmon that comes from Alaska. Several species of fish have been shrinking so quickly that two major food companies are changing their business plan, according to a new Bloomberg report. Whole Foods has revised its guidelines for buying salmon, and Ivar’s – the legendary fish chain in the Pacific Northwest – is sending increasing amounts of salmon back to the restaurant’s supplier because it is too small.

“They know the thicker belly sections of large salmon cook best – they stay sweet and moist in the heat, where smaller fish and tail sections cook quickly and therefore dry out easily,” Ivar President Bob Donegan told Eater Seattle (The Franchise Location Mukilteo Landing is the only restaurant in the chain that is currently open for full service, but Salmon House and Acres of Clams will reopen in May. “So we’re looking for the biggest fish we can find.”

The change in salmon size in Alaska has been going on for years. In 2020, scientists studied four of the five species of fish in Alaska and found that all of the species they studied are smaller compared to pre-1990 sizes, with the chinook shrinking the most at 8 percent and the bobcat the least shrinking at around 8 percent 2 Percent. These scientists also found that the rate at which salmon species have been shrinking has been highest in the past decade. While experts haven’t quite found the root cause, smaller salmon can be attributed in part to fish returning from the sea to freshwater currents at a younger age, and the 2020 study speculated that ecological disturbances “like climate change and harvesting” may be responsible for such decreases in height.

It’s not just about size, it’s also about numbers. Here in Washington, the number of sockeye salmon hit a record low at the end of 2020, a sharp drop compared to the previous year and alarm bells for environmental and conservationists. A January 2021 report by the Seattle Times said the species is critically endangered as there doesn’t seem to be a clear way to reverse the trend. A 2011 Seattle Public Utilities hatchery project of $ 31 million did not produce the desired results in maintaining salmon numbers, and the problem of depleted salmon supplies may be emerging not only in Washington but other regions in the Northwest as well even worse. British Columbia’s Fraser River has had a record number of red holes in three of the last five years.

There is concern for the Northwest fisheries that what happened to Atlantic cod – a complete collapse in the mid-1990s that resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs – will happen to Pacific salmon. In this case, the entire supply chain, including restaurants, can have a huge impact. In May 2020, when the much-lauded Alaska Copper River salmon arrived in Seattle (an annual hit at local seafood restaurants and markets), the pomp and circumstance of the ceremony was subdued due to the pandemic, but there was also non-COVID-related Supplies worries. Catches for bobcats in the Copper River District were so small that local fisheries were suspended for an entire week. Therefore, the arrival of the Copper River in May should be watched closely.

For many Alaskan businesses, even lower salmon could affect the bottom line. The catch in 2020 decreased by 56 percent compared to 2019. While some of this decline could be due to COVID impacts, the two could be linked. Across the Pacific Northwest, many tribal fisheries have already been hit after a drop in geoduck demand in early 2020 caused business to collapse and a drop in other sources of income – like salmon – wouldn’t help.

Most worrying among environmentalists, however, is what the news of smaller salmon means for the entire ecosystem. In this regard, very few experts have reassured. Peter Westley of the University of Alaska Fairbanks said in the Bloomberg report, “When the size and the numbers [of salmon] go down, that is a harbinger of change, which is seen by many scientists as a red flag. “

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