Circle Seafoods touts salmon prices for 2026

Here's the announcement.

Runaway barge!

Undercurrent News is reporting the Circle Seafoods processing barge has broken free of its moorings in foul weather at Metlakatla.

Circle Seafoods barge set to sail for Southeast

Circle Seafoods, of Aberdeen, Washington, issued this statement today regarding its newly built processing platform:

Circle I, the first floating salmon processor, freezer and transportation barge of Circle Seafoods, is scheduled to sail from Aberdeen to Metlakatla, Alaska in time to support the peak of the Southeast Alaska Salmon season.

The barge will buy and freeze salmon in Metlakatla during the 2025 season. After salmon is frozen, it is held in the barge’s cold storage area at ultra low temperatures or shipped out of Alaska in ultra low temperature containers.

The sailing of Circle I is a massive milestone in our journey to shape the future of wild seafood. A huge thank you goes out to our construction and production teams, industry partners, and the communities of Aberdeen and Metlakatla for their contributions in getting us to this point.

For more on the company's planned operations this season at Metlakatla, check out this press release.

Circle's salmon barge makes ready

Circle Seafoods, based in Aberdeen, Washington, last week released this photo of its first processing barge, the Circle I. Construction is nearing completion, and the barge plans to sail June 9 for the Southeast Alaska fishing season, the company said.

Circle salmon sales

Fledgling processor Circle Seafoods announced its frozen salmon fillets "have officially made their debut" in H-E-B stores across Texas and Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide.

Here's a picture of the pouched product.

Floaters begin to multiply

Circle's second barge

This past salmon season saw a notable twist in Bristol Bay with the entry of a new floating processor, the Hannah, from Bellingham-based Northline Seafoods.

The processor is the first in an emerging class of freezer barges whose developers say will revolutionize the fishing industry by improving efficiency, fish quality, and prices.

A second company, Circle Seafoods, based in Aberdeen, Washington, has been building its own freezer barge, and this week announced the purchase of a second barge for conversion as a fish processor.

This second barge is "even bigger and badder" than the first, measuring nearly 500 feet long, the company said. The barge currently is named Mineral Creek.

Circle is targeting the 2025 salmon season in Southeast Alaska for its barge debut. The company is inviting seiners to join its efforts.

Salmon notes

Here's a news roundup from the salmon season thus far.

• The Bristol Bay catch now stands at nearly 21 million sockeye. Fishing remains strong with more than 1 million fish taken yesterday.

• Driftnetters have taken nearly 1.3 million sockeye in the Copper River District, and Eshamy Main Bay has produced more than 1 million sockeye.

• Circle Seafoods confirms the first of several planned processing barges will not be ready in time to take part in this year's Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries. In the interim, the company is renting plant space in Metlakatla this summer to handle pinks and chums from a handful of seiners, the Ketchikan Daily News reports.

• In Canada, the Fraser River sockeye run size forecast is the lowest on record. More details in this Pacific Salmon Commission report.