Down at the dock in Kodiak's St Paul harbor on a windy Tuesday in May, Darren Platt organized his boat, a 42-foot seiner called the Agnes Sabine, ahead of the upcoming salmon season.
“Before a season, you just tear everything apart, and then just desperately try to put it back together,” he said. “I’m still in the tearing everything apart phase.”
This time of year, Platt would normally be excited to hit the water. This summer though, he said he’s feeling apprehensive, mostly about the price of diesel.
“It’s probably going to be close to double what it was last year,” he said.
Platt is one of many who work on the water who are concerned about the price at the pump. Gas prices are still high as a result of the war with Iran, and even a small increase could make or break an already short season.
Last summer, Dave Kubiak, owner and operator of the fishing vessel Lara Lee, said he paid around $3.75 a gallon for fuel. But when he filled his tank on May 20, diesel was $6.70 a gallon, an increase of more than 80%. He calculated that filling the vessel’s tank from empty would have cost him nearly $10,000.
“And we thought last year was expensive,” Kubiak said.
Salmon is the highest value fishery in the state, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Last year was an unusually good year, with the fishery valued at around $540 million. But this year isn’t expected to hit those highs.
Pink salmon make up the majority of the harvested salmon in Alaska because of their sheer numbers: last year, they made up 61% of the harvest. But according to Fish and Game’s forecast, the pink salmon return this year is going to be weak.
This is a normal trend: for some reason, pink salmon in Alaska return in much fewer numbers during even years. But Kubiak said it still makes the high fuel costs harder to stomach.
“If we’re in a season where we’re catching a lot of fish, doubling that price of fuel wouldn't hurt us that much,” he said. “This year, different deal.”
It’s not just pink salmon that will be harder to catch this year. Typically, salmon fishing opens in Kodiak at the beginning of June. But Fish and Game announced that much of the west side of the island will be closed to commercial fishing from the beginning of June until early to mid-July to protect the failing Karluk and Ayakulik rivers' Chinook runs. If Ayakulik sockeye exceed their escapement goals, the department might decide to open that area back up.
With gas prices the way they are, Platt said it might not be worth fishing the beginning of the season.
“The majority of our June fishery has been, for the last 15 years, on the west side at Karluk and Ayakulik," he said. "I think you’re going to see a lot of boats tied up in the harbor, just waiting for the peak of the season, when it’s more profitable to fish.”
But Platt said that’s a long time to wait to start recouping costs.
Fishermen aren’t the only ones on the water impacted by high fuel costs. Galen Lyon owns Ashore Water Taxi in Homer. The business recently added a $5 fee for the first time in years, due in part to rising fuel prices.
“We have done a fuel charge once before. When fuel is not what I would consider to be exorbitantly expensive, there is no fuel surcharge,” Lyon said.
If gas prices continue to climb, Lyon said he’ll have to consider increasing his prices again.
Lyon’s vessel, the Squalus, burns through about 100 gallons of gasoline a day – taking passengers to various destinations, including remote hiking trails and cabins. When gas surpasses $4.70 a gallon, he said he starts to see a dramatic shift in operating costs.
“Even though I’m getting more business, my overhead is so much higher right now than it has been [in] years past, so I'm paying more out of pocket, basically,” Lyon said.
The company operates year-round, but earns the bulk of its profit during the summer. Lyon said it was harder to get the business up and running this spring because of the high cost of gas.
The faster the Squalus goes, the more fuel it burns, so Lyon said he plans to slow down when possible.
Platt has a similar strategy.
“I’m not gonna drive around so much,” he said. “I’m gonna choose a spot and just stay there.”
Platt added that the high cost of fuel might push fishermen to find other efficiencies. Boats like the Agnes Sabine have old engines and other equipment that eat up diesel, and replacing them would significantly cut down on fuel costs.
But unlike cars, each fishing boat is usually custom made, so the necessary modifications aren’t easy. Platt said it can cost more than $100,000 to renovate, money he said most fishermen don’t have lying around.
Another option: Don’t go out on the water at all. According to state data, the number of purse seining permits that actually fished in Kodiak dropped from nearly 400 in the late 1970s to under 150 in 2025. But Platt said there’s not much else for people to turn to.
“We develop skills as fishermen, but not very marketable skills, most of them. At a certain point, you’re kind of stuck with it. But most fishermen love what they do, and that’s why they do it,” Platt said. “Somebody told me a joke earlier, and they said, ‘Did you hear about the fisherman who won $5 million in the lottery? You know what he did with it?’ And the answer is he kept fishing till it was all gone.”
Platt and Kubiak, his fellow fisherman, both say they’re waiting to see what the salmon returns look like and how fuel prices change in the coming months. But Kubiak isn’t too optimistic.
“We’ll just have to see what the future brings,” he said. “But it’s not so bright that you have to wear shades.”
