Fish Factor, High value of the dollar making overseas seafood buyers wary

As Alaska’s salmon season heads into high gear, a few bright spots are surfacing in an otherwise bleak global sales market.

Sales and prices for all salmon (especially sockeye) have been in a slump all year. And amidst an overall glut of wild and farmed fish, Alaska is poised for another huge salmon haul, with the largest run of sockeye salmon in 20 years predicted along with a mega-pack of pinks.

Meanwhile, the single toughest thing stacked against Alaska’s sales to traditional overseas customers is the strong US dollar.

“Overall, the dollar is up anywhere from 11 percent to 45 percent or mor...