June 18, 2014 — Copper River's drift fishery has peaked, with a harvest of 1.4 million salmon, the bulk of them sockeyes, and most of the fleet has moved to the Coghill and Eshamy districts, as the fishery continues through July.
While the weather overall for the season has been really good, the last period brought winds of up to 50 knots and a fair amount of rain, and some harvesters came in early, said Jeremy Botz, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's office in Cordova.
Some 70 percent to 80 percent of the 500 drift gillnet permit holders who had been harvesting on the Copper River district have moved on to Coghill and Eshamy fisheries, Botz said.
There were unconfirmed reports of grounds prices around $1.85 a pound for the Copper River reds.
In Anchorage, Copper River kings were $25.95 a pound for fillets and $17.95 for headed and gutted whole fish, and sockeyes were $11.95 a pound for fillets and $8.95 a pound for headed and gutted fish. 10th and M Seafoods said a number of customers were stocking up with 30-pound boxes of sockeye fillets.
While the sockeye run came in above forecast, with 1,375,000 caught, the Chinook run was below expectations, at some 9,000 fish, he said.
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