By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

A decision by Wal-Mart to stock its stores with fillets of Bristol Bay red salmon is being hailed by commercial fishermen and conservationists as a huge boost for the world's largest sockeye fishery.

“It's a vote for quality and sustainability and a huge blue ribbon for Bristol Bay,” Bob Waldrop, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (RSDA), said in an interview Nov. 24. “It adds demand for the product, and it's not just any old product. It's high-end stuff, which puts more demand out there for improving quality.”

“It's a perfect match between the world's largest seafood retailer and the world's largest wild sockeye salmon fishery,” said Fritz Johnson, a board member of the Bristol Bay RSDA, who has fished Bristol Bay for 28 years.

Wild salmon are the lifeblood of our Native villages,” said Terry Hoefferle, executive director of Nunamta Aulukestai, an association of eight Native village corporations in the Bristol Bay region. “Wal-Mart's investment helps our local fishing economy, which benefits all of us and boosts our efforts to sustain big, healthy salmon runs for future generations.”

The wild sockeye salmon fillets, once frozen by processors in Bristol Bay and then shipped in refrigerated freezer containers to Seattle, will be available to Wal-Mart distribution centers and stores nationwide. The product line is a pilot project, which Wal-Mart indicates it will extend if sales are strong.

Bristol Bay sockeye salmon are now in freezers at 233 Wal-Mart stores and will be available to consumers as long as supplies last.

Wal-Mart made a commitment in 2006 that within five years all of its wild-caught fresh and frozen fish for the North American market would be sourced from fisheries that meet the Marine Stewardship Council's environmental standards for sustainability and well-managed fisheries. The company's decision to add Bristol Bay sockeyes to its retail line was also hailed by the conservation groups Earthworks and Trout Unlimited as a sound environmental choice.

The purchases come in the wake of the fledging Bristol Bay RSDA's first major effort to improve the quality of the harvest by allocating thousands of dollars to produce ice and make it available to fishermen at sea. Some fish buyers in the past have said that Bristol Bay reds garnered a lower price because of the quality and the RSDA has expressed a determination to change that image, to produce higher quality fish of greater value.

“It's a long-term effort,” said Chris McDowell, a veteran fisherman from Juneau, and RSDA board member who also studies the fisheries economy. For a significant portion of the Bristol Bay fleet installing a refrigerated sea water (RSW) system may not be economical, so the icing program helps those without RSW capability, he said.

The RSDA is funded through a 1 percent assessment deducted off fish tickets of driftnet fishermen in Bristol Bay and paid into an account at the Alaska Department of Revenue. Each year the Legislature appropriates the amount collected to the Department of Commerce, which forwards the funds to the RSDA, in much the same manner as the fisheries enhancement tax.

The regional seafood development associations may market and provide the region's seafood, seek improvements to the area infrastructure, work to raise quality, conduct market research, education and product development. The RSDAs are not, however, authorized to engage in administrative, regulatory or legislative lobbying or fish price negotiations.