A dismal Copper River salmon season is creating a market gap for fresh Alaska salmon that Bristol Bay could fill.

Andy Wink, incoming executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA), told IntraFish the market is seeing a higher demand for Alaska sockeye as a result of the woes experienced on the Copper River.

"The fresh market is dying for supply right now, with other areas not producing as much as forecast," he said. "That was an aspect in play last year as well.

"This year, we're looking at maybe even more of that demand being there," Wink said. "I don’t get a sense there’s a lot of sockeye out there."

Norman Van Vactor, CEO of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, which owns 50 percent of Ocean Beauty Seafoods, told IntraFish that it is too early to tell if this Copper River season will be a standout from others.

But he said the state has seen promising commercial openers in both the Nushagak district and most recently the Egegik -- where 29,000 fish were harvested as of June 24, with a cumulative escapement of 86,000 sockeye, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Van Vactor said Bristol Bay could benefit from there being a gap in the fresh salmon market in the United States, given that processors are moving more towards fresh and frozen raw product over canned.

Bristol Bay begins, giving Alaska's sockeye season renewed hope

"I hate to see positive things happen in Bristol Bay because of what’s a negative occurrence in the state, but it can’t hurt," he said. "There’s fresh sockeye being flown outside of the state into markets from a number of different places.

"When volumes are low, you’re going to see people maximize and take advantage of what’s a shortage of sockeye that didn’t come out Copper River."

Van Vactor said Copper River's dismal season shouldn't change processor's plans too much though, because Bristol Bay is a much larger fishery.

He added its also difficult as a processor in Bristol Bay to react spontaneously to new potential market openings.

"Companies, when they develop production plans for 2018, have already committed to X amount of capacity with existing air traffic cargo haulers," he said.

Van Vactor said it's still too early to talk prices for Bristol Bay salmon, but that this year is already looking up.

"If you've got good fresh sockeye available, it’s worth more than it was last year," he said.