By Kim Pierce
(Dallas Morning News).- Bad news for salmon lovers: The price of this popular, healthful fish is up for the foreseeable future.

"The bottom line is there's definitely a shortage of fish all the way around," says Ricardo Martinez, salmon buyer and general manager for Ocean Beauty Seafood's Dallas operation. That drives prices higher, although he won't predict by how much.
 
"Consumers are going to feel it," says Mr. Martinez. "White-tablecloth restaurants are going to feel it." King salmon will be affected the most, he says. And expect Copper River salmon, whose season is about to start, also to cost more than last year.
 
Several factors have converged to produce the current situation. Start with the high price of diesel fuel, now more than $4 a gallon, which runs all those fishing boat engines. Add the mysterious calamity in California and Oregon: No one knows why there are dramatically fewer fish this year, but both areas are closed to salmon fishing right now.
 
And finally, some Chilean salmon farms have been hit with a virus that's hurting quality. Safeway (Tom Thumb locally) announced recently that it was restricting the purchase of some Chilean-raised salmon.
 
What can you do? "There are options," says Mr. Martinez, "like steelhead trout, which is really a salmon. It's a farm-raised product that comes in, goes out to the ocean and comes back." Also, Coho salmon is an option, with its season just starting. "They're farm-raised out of British Columbia."
 
Mr. Martinez has one more suggestion: "Eat smaller portions, and enjoy it."

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com