Wednesday, June 5 2:32 pm PST
Sockeye harvests continue to soar, prices continue to decrease
The preliminary harvest estimate from the 36-hour period that started on Monday, June 3, was 2,200 Chinook and 126,000 sockeye salmon with 867 deliveries reported. This compares to a projected harvest of 46,800 sockeye salmon for this period, according to ADF&G.
And retailers are responding to the better-than-predicted influx of fish and continuing to lower prices.
Kroger-owned US grocery chain QFC is now offering Copper River sockeye fillets at $12.99 (€11.58) per pound in all QFC's in the Pacific Northwest, Joshua Dooley, the retailer's meat and seafood manager, told IntraFish.
"I can’t remember ever selling at that low a retail," he said, noting the price could be attracting new customers to the fish.
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Thursday May 30, 3:43 pm PST
Prices continue to drop, with another opener on the way
Kroger-owned US grocery chain QFC is now offering Copper River sockeye fillets at $16.99 (€15.27) per pound, Joshua Dooley, the retailer's meat and seafood manager, told IntraFish.
Dooley added: "Copper River is in full swing at QFC and we are in for an amazing few weeks of Fresh, Wild, AMAZING Salmon Sales!"
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Wednesday May 29,1:41 pm PST
The Copper River that keeps on giving
Preliminary harvest estimate from the 24-hour period that started on Monday, May 27 was 2,300 Chinook and 95,600 sockeye salmon with 685 deliveries reported. This compares to a projected harvest of 75,600 sockeye salmon for this period, ADF&G reported.
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Monday, May 27 2:52 pm PST
More good news
Preliminary harvest estimate from the 12-hour period that occurred on Monday, May 20 was 1,750 Chinook and 53,200 sockeye salmon with 483 deliveries reported. This compares to a projected harvest of 58,600 sockeye salmon for this period, ADF&G told IntraFish.
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Monday, May 20 2:21 pm PST
The getting is good and getting better for Copper River customers this year
Consumers can expect to see a lot more sockeye and kings at reduced prices over the Memorial Day weekend, retailers such as Safeway told IntraFish.
Since last week's opener, ex vessel prices for sockeye dropped from $10.00 (€8.96) to $6.00 (€5.38) per pound, and kings have only increased by $1.00 (€1.00) to $15.00 (€13.44) per pound.
Read what else retail and foodservice channels had to say about prices this week.
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Friday, May 17 14:36 PST
Early numbers on target
Preliminary catch figures for the first 12-hour Copper River district opening are in, with Alaska Department of Fish and Game's (ADF&G) Area Management Biologist Jeremy Botz told IntraFish.
Fishermen made 480 deliveries in total, with 2,300 king and 20,400 sockeye salmon caught. The sockeye catch was just slightly below the projected harvest of 23,400 fish.
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Friday, May 17 10:45 am PST
Kings are up from last season
The first 18,000 pounds of fresh Copper River salmon arrived in Seattle via an Alaska Airlines plane Friday morning, the company said.
By noon, Alaska Air Cargo is expected to deliver a total of 50,000 pounds of Copper River salmon throughout the United States.
The Copper River Marketing Association forecast for king salmon this year is up from the past seasons, while the sockeye forecast is about average.
"We hope to see 55,000 king salmon and close to 1.5 million sockeye return to the Copper River this season," said its executive director, Christa Hoover.
While KIRO news recently reported kings selling for nearly $60.00 per pound at a Bellevue, Washington-based QFC, other retailers such as Whole Foods and distributors such as Seattle Fish Co. told IntraFish they were expecting their first shipment into the weekend.
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Friday, May 17 6:34 am PST
It's FINALLY here!
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Friday, May 17 6:45 am PST
Early pricing better than last year
Ex-vessel prices are more affordable, compared to last year when they rose sky-high thanks to one of the most dismal seasons in decades. Get the scoop on grounds prices for 2019 here.
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Thursday, May 16 12:00 pm PST
Things are looking up on opening day
Bill Webber, owner of Paradigm Shift Seafoods, posted a video from his vessel fishing the opening of the Copper River season Thursday morning.
"We've got some nice weather here today," he reported. "We saw a few jumpers on the run out last night, which is a very positive sign. It's something we haven't seen for a couple years."
Rich Wheeler, one of the owners of Alaska salmon supplier Sixty North, told IntraFish the season is already looking better than last year's, noting he was seeing kings in the water, and had already caught sockeye.
"It's looking like the sockeye are just fine," he added. "Here we're halfway through the flood, we're going to have a better grip on what amounts are available shortly," he said.
And while it is still too early to determine where Alaska salmon prices will settle this season, the industry is not anticipating the sky-high prices seen in 2018, where grounds prices were running in the $13 (€11) to $14 (€11.90) per pound range for kings and $9.50 (€8.1) to $10 (€8.5) a pound for sockeye. Those prices only continued to rise as barely anyone got their hands on the coveted salmon last year due to the dismal season.
And as a result, this year buyers are eager to be the first in line for the fish.
The news so far is good also for Tyler Goodnight, VP of global business and fleet operations for Washington state-based Northport Fisheries.
"The indication so far, it's going to be a decent opener," he told IntraFish.
Last year the supplier was backed up with pre-orders for the coveted salmon, and wasn't even able to get 1,000 pounds of it.
This year Northpoint is looking to get its hands on kings and sockeye.
"Most of the retail-driven ad business is gong to be in the form of sockeye. That's the push. We certainly sell a lot of kings as well."
--Rachel Sapin
Tuesday, April 16 3:00 pm PST
Alaska predicts below average season for Copper River salmon
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) is predicting that 756,000 sockeye salmon will be harvested in the Copper River District in 2019, which is 39 percent below the 10-year (2009–2018) average of 1.25 million fish.
"Based on the recent poor chinook and sockeye salmon production, a conservative management approach will be implemented," the ADFG said Monday.
The predictions are still set to beat last year's dismal season for Copper River.
In 2018, Copper River salmon sold at sky-high prices thanks to the lowest sockeye salmon harvest in 50 years.
The ADFG predicts the district will also harvest 235,000 coho in 2019, and 31,000 kings.
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