The famed Copper River district salmon fishery is currently
closed, with the next opener likely to occur on short notice, but Alaska
fisheries officials say the district driftnet harvest is already over 5,000
kings, 7,000 chum and 586,000 sockeyes.
Statewide, as of June 4, the preliminary cumulative
statistics show a harvest of 870,000 salmon of all species, including some
587,000 reds, 253,000 chum, 39,000 kings and fewer than 1,000 silver and pink
salmon respectively.
Beginning with the 2013 season, the Alaska Department of
Fish and Game is updating the harvest estimates nightly, and posting them online
at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyfisherysalmon.bluesheet
Beyond the Copper River district in Prince William Sound,
which opened on May 16, the Coghill and Montague district drift fisheries
opened on May 27. In the Coghill district, the preliminary harvest totals are
fewer than 1,000 kings, some 236,000 chum and fewer than 1,000 sockeyes. While
in the Montague district, harvesters have netted fewer than 1,00 kinds and some
3,000 chums. The general seine area of Prince William Sound has recorded a
catch of fewer than 1,000 kings, some 7,000 chums and fewer than 1,000 reds.
The commercial fishery in Upper Cook Inlet has begun, with a
cumulative harvest of fewer than 1,000 Chinook salmon,
In Seattle’s famed Pike Place Fish Market, whole fresh
Copper River king salmon are selling for $29.99 a pound and fresh Copper River
king fillets for $43.99 a pound. Whole fresh Copper River sockeyes are $64.95
per fish and fresh Copper River sockeye fillets are $21.99 a pound. In
Anchorage, FishEx is offering fresh Copper River sockeye fillets for $25.95 a
pound and fresh Copper River king fillets for $38.95 a pound.