Nearly 800,000 salmon have been caught so far during this year’s Copper River season, which is shaping up to be a significantly better season than last year’s, which saw historically low returns and the closure of areas of the river.
Fishermen have been pleased with initial results and are exhibiting optimism.
“It appears to be a larger run than predicted,” drift gillnet harvester John Renner told The Cordova Times. “The fish are also large and healthy, indicating a larger component of older fish … They are also spread out across the flats offshore and onshore.”
Renner said that though the season is shaping up to be a good one, he was still being cautious in his thinking.
“We were selling every fish, but we finally saved one and ate it after the price dropped. That was a sockeye. I haven’t eaten a king yet – they are just worth too much money,” he said. “With the tight season last year, every fish is appreciated. We needed a little shot in the arm and this is an opportunity to pay off some bills.”
The preliminary harvest results posted last week by Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game recorded 15,726 kings weighing 285,473 pounds, and 758,579 sockeyes weighing 3,850,704 pounds, and 15,791 chums weighing 101,935 pounds.
Retail prices in Alaska ranged from USD 21.95 to USD 46.95 (EUR 19.58 to EUR 41.88) per pound for Copper River sockeye salmon and from USD 59.95 to USD 86.95 (EUR 53.48 to EUR 77.57) per pound for Copper River king salmon.
Last year’s Copper River season resulted in the second-lowest catch of sockeye salmon in the past 50 years and a premature end in May. Biologists believed that last year’s dismal season was a result of the “Blob,” the name applied to the large body of warm water that has plagued the Gulf of Alaska in recent years.
