Some 330 harvesters, undaunted by nasty weather, with strong winds, whipping up to 40 knots and more, delivered about 82,000 sockeyes and 700 kings as the famed Copper River salmon fishery got under way 17 May.
The Chinook harvest was less than half of what was anticipated, while the red salmon harvest was more than double of what was expected, said Jeremy Botz, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at Cordova.
Kings were averaging about 20 pounds and the sockeyes about 6 pounds or a little under, and all the fish looked really good, he said.
At 10th and M Seafoods in Anchorage, lucky retail customers on a long waiting list were able to buy fillets of sockeye salmon for USD 21.95 (EUR 17.06) a pound and king fillets for USD 35.95 (EUR 27.95) a pound. Whole headed and gutted reds were USD 16.95 (EUR 13.17) a pound and whole Chinooks were USD 22.95 (EUR 17.84) a pound.
