Thursday, May 19, 2011

Strong start for Copper River sockeye

Copper River gillnetters are fishing their second 12-hour opener of the season today, no doubt still excited about the results of the first opener on Monday.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game estimates the fleet took 105,300 sockeye salmon, which strikes Deckboss as a very impressive tally for opening day.

The Chinook catch totaled 1,700 fish.

Opening day prices reportedly were high, which is always the case and doesn't mean much. Let's see what sockeye are paying in a couple of weeks.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

how much reds and kings $

Anonymous said...

$4.00 Reds, $6.50 Kings

Anonymous said...

Wow!

Ak_Fisher said...

Let's hope for a huge run of pinks too.

Anonymous said...

One of the largest openers in history, a $3 million dollar day, doesn't mean much?
$4.75 a lb, doesn't mean a thing either. Like a $24.00 fillet in Seattle?

Anonymous said...

So the Copper had a downturn of 4-5 seasons, there have always been up and down fish cycles. It had been down so long, it finally looked up to me!
The catch yesterday(5/19)was great for the "brave" souls that faced winds up to 45mph to catch the "world" famous salmon. And,Yes the price did drop. You do not put close to 700K lbs on the Seattle market(5/17)and not expect the price to drop. It is not so much the money we make fishing,it is the lifestyle and freedom we live with!

Ak_Fisher said...

anyone hear anything on PWS pink prices this year?

Anonymous said...

115,000 reds on second opener at $2.50 lb . A big run looks similar to the first 2 openers of 96 . On the third opener in 96 over 300,000 were caught and the final tally was over 3 million.Weather was very bad last time , The fisherman earned every penny.It ain't easy.

Anonymous said...

the ultimate price paid for pws pink salmon and across the state, will depend largely on the final total harvest. Huge run, price close to last season, not so huge run, then a little higher price from last year.

Anonymous said...

Fishers in the Nome area are holding their breaths and keeping their fingers crossed for the Pilgrim River sockeye which crashed big time last summer. Fresh salmon is good food.