Alaska Fishing

The celebrated and lucrative Copper River salmon fishery opened at 7 a.m. Thursday under overcast skies, with commercial fishermen near Cordova scooping 1,549 kings and 20,216 sockeye out of the water.

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That's fewer kings and more reds than biologists had predicted for the opening-day haul.

"It was a good day," said Glenn Hollowell, an area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

"It was overcast, but that's good because the fish can't see the nets," he said.

About 24 hours after the fishery opened, the first cargo planeload of fish arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, where the first king was "caught" by University of Washington Husky football coach Steve Sarkisian.

The 40-pound fish was then sold in a charity auction, according to Alaska Airlines, which unloaded about 20,000 pounds of salmon on Friday.

Prices for the fish are starting out lower this year, one Seattle retailer said.

On Friday afternoon, one Seattle wholesaler was selling the Copper kings, which are renowned for their fatty flavor, for about $25 per pound. That's steep but it's still a lower price than last year, said Harry Yoshimura, a manager at Seattle's Mutual Fish Co.

Stores were selling Copper River kings for $50 per pound last year.

"It's not flying out the door," Yoshimura said, citing the poor economy and restaurant owners' reluctance to put high-priced items on their menus.

The pre-season forecast for the Copper River salmon harvest is 509,584 sockeyes and 30,724 kings.

The Copper River fishery isn't the first commercial salmon opening of the year in Alaska, nor is it the biggest, but its reputation has grown in recent years thanks to nurturing of the Copper River brand and the annual hoopla around the first of its fish to arrive at Seattle markets and restaurants.

The next Copper River opening is on Monday.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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