Saving Seafood

Alaska Anticipates Limited Salted Salmon Roe Production and Air Freight to Japan

May 17, 2022 — The Copper River salmon fishery, which is the start of Alaska salmon fishing season in Alaska, opened today, May 16, which is one day earlier than last year.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the first day of the season opener is set from 7 am for 12 hours on May 17, and fishing restrictions continue for king salmon as usual for resource protection, Suisan Keizai reports.

According to the previous forecast, the Fish & Game said that the number of sockeye salmon fishing in the Copper River area would increase to 1,432,000 fish this summer, including the returning to the hatchery, which is more than double the previous year’s level, but 34% less than the average of the past 10 years. Last year, the actual catch was 404,653, 68% less than the 10-year average of 1,250,000 fish.

Read the full story at Seafood News

As Copper River salmon season opens, Alaska gears up for big runs in 2022

May 17, 2022 — The salmon-fishing season in the U.S. state of Alaska officially began Monday, 16 May, with the opening of the Copper River fishery.

The first 17,200 pounds of Copper River salmon arrived in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. on an Alaska Airlines flight at around 8:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, 17 May, according to Lusamerica Director of Communications and Sustainability Peter Adame. Lusamerica is the parent company of the Monterey Bay Seafood brand.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

ALASKA: Record Copper River salmon prices boost market optimism ahead of bigger Bristol Bay fishery

June 15, 2021 — It’s been a tough spring for the Copper River sockeye fishery in Southcentral Alaska.

Copper River is among the first fisheries to offer fresh salmon — its runs signal the start of the state’s commercial season. But the low number of sockeye returning this year has led to limited opportunities to fish.

The run is picking up, but until last week the season was similar to 2020, which finished with some of the lowest sockeye catches on record. But one thing is very different from last year: A record-high price for salmon.

“Markets were hot. And we were able to pay that price and pass it on to the fishermen,” said Jon Hickman, the executive vice president for Peter Pan Seafoods.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Record-high Copper River prices boost market optimism ahead of the Bristol Bay fishery

June 14, 2021 — It’s been a tough spring for Copper River’s sockeye fishery.

Copper River is among the first fisheries to offer fresh salmon — its runs signal the start of the state’s commercial season. But the low number of sockeye returning this year has led to limited opportunities to fish.

The run is picking up, but until last week the season was similar to 2020, which finihsed with some of the lowest sockeye catches on record. But one thing is very different from last year: A record-high price for salmon.

“Markets were hot. And we were able to pay that price and pass it on to the fishermen,” said Jon Hickman, the executive vice president for Peter Pan Seafoods.

In May, the company announced that it would pay triple last year’s prices for sockeye and kings. This year, it will pay $19.60 per pound for kings and $12.60 a pound for sockeye. In 2020, sockeye went for around $4 and kings for $6.

The Cordova Times reported retailers’ pre-orders for sockeye fillets were as high as $54 a pound. King fillets went for up to $80 a pound.

Read the full story at KDLG

ALASKA: Copper River fleet lands kings and sockeye salmon between troughs

June 2, 2021 — The Copper River commercial fishery in Cordova, Alaska, has had three 12-hour fishing openers. Between weather, ice upriver, and cold water temperatures, catches have been a bit on the skinny side — as the high price per pound has reflected.

Those are the reasons so far, as opposed to chalking it up to a poor run like last year. Having said that, the 2021 predictions are not stellar.

The cumulative sonar count of fish up the Copper River through May 24 was 4,813 fish versus a projected 39,911 salmon.

The May 24 12-hour opener brought in 2,000 kings and 32,700 sockeye salmon compared with an anticipated harvest of 56,100. Though the kings were few and far between, they are such bright, beautiful fish. Kings are bright silver with black spots and the reds are silver with an iridescent blue green back.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Copper River salmon fishery brings season’s first catches, camaraderie — and hope

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.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Early-season prices for Copper River salmon sky-high

May 24, 2021 — Prices for sockeye and king salmon out of the Copper River, Alaska, were sky high after the first couple openers of the season last week. Jon Hickman, Peter Pan Seafood’s vice president of operations, said in a news release that his company paid USD 12.60 (EUR 10.30) for sockeye and USD 19.60 (EUR 16.05) for king salmon.

Hickman said Peter Pan’s markets could handle the high ex-vessel prices, a welcome development for Copper River fishermen after an abysmal season last year.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: OBI donates first Copper River salmon sale to nonprofit supporting restaurants

May 18, 2021 — The highly anticipated Copper River salmon season, which opens Tuesday, 18 May, has chefs, seafood retailers, and consumers paying top-dollar for the first fish to be caught and sent to the mainland United States from Alaska.

Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based OBI Seafoods opted to donate some of its first fish to the Seattle nonprofit We Got This Seattle, which supports frontline workers and Seattle restaurants.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: Copper River salmon harvest set to begin May 17

May 17, 2021 — Alaska’s 2021 salmon officially starts on Monday, May 17 with a 12-hour opener for reds and kings at the Copper River.

All eyes will be on early Cordova dock prices for Alaska’s famous “first fresh salmon of the season” as an indicator of wild salmon markets. COVID-forced closures in 2020 of high-end restaurants and seafood outlets tanked starting prices to $3 per pound for sockeyes and $6.50 for king salmon, down from $10 and $14, respectively the previous year.

But early signs are looking good.

Heading into Mother’s Day on May 9, demand for seafood was “fanatic” said Mitch Miller, vice president of national upscale seafood restaurants Ocean Prime in Nation’s Restaurant News.

National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay said there is a lot more consumer optimism this year as more people are getting vaccinated and stimulus checks are being distributed, and friends and family are moving about more freely.

Alaska’s 2021 salmon harvest is projected to top 190 million fish, a 61% increase over the 2020 catch. The breakdown includes 46.6 million sockeye salmon, 3.8 million cohos, 15.3 million chum salmon, 296,000 Chinook and 124.2 million pinks.

Read the full story at The Cordoba Times