Inlet Fisheries Battles Farmed Salmon Producers.

• Author: KELSEY, MARK

Alaska's fishermen and processors compete against farm fish products, which reign supreme in marketing and pricing.

It's the law of survival. Just as only the strongest salmon survive their upstream run to spawn, only the strongest seafood processors survive the vicissitudes of a shaky business.

Inlet Fisheries Inc., processing seafood since 1987, is one of them. The Kenai facility has been a Top 49er fixture in recent years, giving it recognition as one of the state's top Alaskan-owned, Alaskan-operated businesses, based on gross revenue. Down from 26th to 31st last year, Inlet Fisheries is on par to make a respectable showing again this year.

"We're looking forward to a decent year," said President and Owner Vincent Goddard in mid-June. "Not a great one, but a decent one."

Even with salmon returns still a question mark, Goddard said his company draws from five of the richest fisheries in the state, so supply usually isn't a problem. With fleets in Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound and the Yukon and Kuskokwim regions, Inlet Fisheries is virtually assured of a steady stream of product.

"Market prices are low, but we're expecting volumes to be consistent."

The demand for that volume, at least at Inlet Fisheries, is largely international. Goddard said some 85 percent of the company's processed fish is exported, with Japan claiming the lion's share. The owner said the nature of the challenges of keeping pace with that demand has changed since he started Inlet Fisheries 13 years ago.

"In 1987, we were considering expansion and how we could continue growing in an international market in which Alaska salmon was preeminent," he said. "Our primary orientation now is figuring out how to survive in an international market where Alaska salmon is in danger of becoming obsolete."

The ever-increasing grip that farmed fish have on the market is the biggest threat to the state's commercial fishing industry, Goddard said. And Japan, for example, which is one of the world's leading seafood importers, counted on farmed salmon to fill 70 percent of its demand for salmon last year.

"The biggest change really has come from our competition in the form of farmed fish. Farmed fish reign supreme in marketing and pricing. We have to price compete and quality compete. I don't think we can overcome it," he said. "The situation is only going to get worse. It wouldn't surprise me to see the production of farmed salmon double in the next seven years."

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