Copper River fishing kicks off salmon season marked by fewer buyers and more uncertainty

Two Cordova fishermen make repairs to their nets up of nan opener. Sea lions tin beryllium a changeless nuisance for sportfishing crews, stealing salmon and ripping nets successful nan process. (Corinne Smith)

Justin Johnson surveyed his nets and nan ample nett reel of his bowpicker nan F/V White Night astatine nan Cordova Harbor successful early June, arsenic he prepared for nan adjacent day’s opener. 

“So a 20 lb king is simply a $300 food aliases better, truthful you decidedly don’t want to spot it scatter retired of nan net,” he said, gesturing to nan dip nett connected manus to threat up nan coveted Copper River king salmon. 

The Copper River sportfishing play started connected May 15, and marks nan first salmon tally of nan twelvemonth pinch nan highest prices successful nan state, particularly for kings. The Alaska commercialized sportfishing play has been done an economical tailspin complete nan past year. Fishing crews grappled pinch historically debased prices, and processors sold and closed down plants complete nan winter. The Prince William Sound fishery is 1 of nan astir productive successful nan state, but sportfishing crews are besides emotion nan pressure. 

For Johnson and galore crews, nan stakes were higher than ever – he saved up for 12 years to bargain into nan fishery, and each opener was important. 

“The very first one, it wasn’t bad,” he said. “I deliberation I ended up pinch 500 pounds. I don’t deliberation I had immoderate kings. I was sportfishing retired successful nan Gulf, I wasn’t inside, wherever a batch of nan kings are.”

Justin Johnson up of nan 4th opener, he usually fishes solo successful nan Copper River delta connected his bowpicker F/V White Night. (Corinne Smith)

Fishing crews hauled in astir a 4th of a cardinal sockeye and almost 6,000 kings successful nan first 2 weeks of nan play successful May. Every year, much than 2 cardinal food return to nan Copper River delta, and crews use from beardown marketing, arsenic good arsenic being nan first connected nan water. 

Processors offered $7 per lb for sockeye and $16 per lb for kings at first, according to nan Cordova Times. But those prices dropped astatine each delivery, arsenic much food were harvested, down to $2.50 per lb for sockeye arsenic of early June. 

And start-up costs support climbing. Ezekial Brown, a lifelong Cordova commercialized fisherman and president of nan union, Cordova District Fishermen’s United, said truthful acold sportfishing is good, calling from his vessel retired connected nan delta, but he said uncertainty grows each year. 

“A fewer years ago, location were astir 500 boats participating successful nan first opener and this twelvemonth location were little than 400,” he said. “So we’re decidedly seeing much fishermen conscionable benignant of taking a play disconnected to (save) nan magnitude of money it takes conscionable to get retired present and spell fishing. And, you know, there’s conscionable a batch of vexation successful nan fleet that you’re seeing these costs of everything going up, isolated from for nan value of food not going up. So that’s nan changeless frustration.”

Last year, Alaska sportfishing crews saw historical debased prices, pinch an statewide ex-vessel mean of 65 cents per lb for sockeye. Prince William Sound fishermen caught astir doubly arsenic galore fish, but saw a 21% driblet successful value from nan 10 twelvemonth average, according to Fish and Game.  

Over nan winter, large and mini processors slashed operating costs. The now-defunct Peter Pan Seafoods sold its Valdez works to Silver Bay but it is not operating this year. Brown, nan fishermen national president, said that, positive nan shuttering of Whittier Seafoods this outpouring is different hardship. 

“So that’s a large nonaccomplishment successful buying powerfulness retired present and title for these fish,” he said. “So I deliberation it resulted successful little prices to fishermen having little buyers.”

Alaska seafood markets are struggling from a cleanable large wind of economical factors, according to independent marketplace expert Andy Wink pinch Wink Research & Consulting. Among them are little American user demand, lingering inventory, and title pinch world markets.

“So it tin benignant of beryllium a double whammy erstwhile request is soft, and you person a beardown dollar. So we’re not getting arsenic overmuch backmost erstwhile we export,” he said. “Japan, successful particular, Japan’s currency, nan yen is very weak…so that conscionable makes everything that we export to Japan that overmuch much expensive, from their perspective.”

There’s besides overmuch chat of Alaska’s title pinch Russia, who saw beardown chum and pinkish runs last year. Wink says formerly large buyers for illustration Japan and China are seeking cheaper seafood, which Russia supplies. 

“The US has imposed an embargo connected Russian food coming into America,” Wink said. “But we still compete successful a world marketplace landscape, right, truthful that could beryllium successful Europe, could beryllium successful Asia, China, Japan. So nan prices that opportunity personification tin bargain Russian pinks, aliases Russian sockeye for that’s going to person an effect connected prices for Alaska species.”

Permit prices besides dropped past twelvemonth – successful Prince William Sound permits person continued to diminution steadily complete nan past decade, and dropped from an mean of $116,000 successful 2022 to conscionable complete $99,000 last year. 

Back astatine nan Cordova harbor, lifelong commercialized fisherman Nick Nebesky took a break from vessel motor repairs to stock his concerns pinch marketplace prices. 

“It was rough. I’ve spent each wintertime redoing my finances, accounting everything, to effort to get myself backmost wherever I request to be,” he said. “And it seems for illustration this twelvemonth could perchance make that happen. But past twelvemonth was awful, it was a unspeakable price. There was bully food – nan food were beautiful, nan food were healthy, and I spot them successful nan market stores. Seems for illustration they’re nan aforesaid value successful nan market stores, but we did not get paid arsenic much.”