Record-setting prices on early season sockeye and chinook salmon from the Copper River in Alaska have fishmongers at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington taking extra care while flinging the fish through the air.
A slow, early run has prompted managers on the Copper River in Alaska to cancel several openers, and there has been no fishing since 28 May. The low supply has sent prices into the stratosphere at the Market in Seattle, where Copper River chinook salmon fillets were selling for USD 54.99 (EUR 47.14), with sockeye close behind at USD 49.99 (EUR 42.85).
Whole Chinook salmon was selling at USD 40.00 (EUR 34.28) per pound, while whole sockeye was going at USD 35.00 (EUR 30) per pound at the market’s iconic Pike Place Fish Market, where fishmonger’s like Ryan Yokoyama toss salmon through the air.
“I’ve been here 13 years now and this has been the weirdest early season yet. Typically we can get as many sockeyes as we want, but this year it has been extremely limited so far,” Yokoyama told SeafoodSource, adding that his stall has brought in around just 400 pounds of sockeye at a time when they normally would have gone through thousands of pounds.
At Uwajimaya, Seattle’s largest Asian specialty market, Copper River sockeye was a bit cheaper at USD 36.99 (EUR 31.70), but there was no chinook salmon available.
When asked if customers were suffering sticker shock, Yokoyama said market shoppers who are buying the salmon understand what they’re paying for.
“Thankfully, Copper River has been so well-marketed that people understand that it’s a really highly sought-after fish. People understand that it’s going to cost some money. There are still people who say they can get salmon for next to nothing without realizing it’s a farm-raised Atlantic salmon they’re looking at Costco,” Yokoyama said.
But at a QFC in South Seattle – where rents are lower than around Pike Place Market – a few smallish, somewhat forlorn looking fillets labored on ice at USD 29.99 (EUR 25.64), down from USD 35.99 (EUR 30.85) earlier in the week.
Across the country in New York City, Fulton Fish Market had even higher prices listed online for fresh Copper River fish. Whole chinook salmon was going for USD 440 (EUR 377.21) for an average nine-pound fish, and half-pound fillets were selling at USD 36.95 (EUR 31.68) apiece.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game predicted a low run this year for Copper River at less than one million fish harvested, but early indications are that it may come up short of the prediction.
The Copper River run traditionally comes about a month before the large sockeye salmon run in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The astronomical prices on Copper River fish have little bearing on Bristol Bay sockeye, where ex-vessel price is expected to be around USD 1.00 (EUR 0.86) per pound on a strong run predicted at 18 percent over the 10-year average.
