May 25, 2021 — Last year’s weak sockeye salmon run and the global pandemic created a wave of uncertainty and fear here for people in Cordova. This year, with two Copper River commercial openers under their belt, Cordovans are hopeful.
The usually soggy coastal fishing community is delicately positioned on the eastern edge of Prince William Sound and nestled at the bottom of the Chugach Mountains.
On Tuesday, following the first opener of the year, people took turns snatching pieces of freshly caught Copper River king salmon from the grill — a celebratory first fish tradition that’s rougher around the edges compared to Seattle’s red carpet fanfare.
“2020 was miserable,” third-generation fisherman Matt Honkola said. “To get back to the way things were, I think all of our spirits, we needed this.”
Each summer, king, sockeye and coho salmon return to the Copper River — a roughly 300-mile-long waterway that extends from the Gulf of Alaska east of here north to the Wrangell Mountains.