The official opening to our 2021 Copper River Salmon fishery is Monday 17 May

• Intermittent days & hours of regulated fishing time will occur dependent on abundance
• It's impossible to know what our catch will be until the fish come aboard
• We will not have more than 48 hours notice of when fishing will next occur
• We fulfill orders in the order they were received 
• We will contact you prior to shipment 

Starting tomorrow the few fishermen who have the proper licenses to fish the Copper River region will be allowed to do so, likely twice per week for a few hours each of those days. The State of Alaska has written into law that our catch levels must work in harmony with nature. It is mandated that fish catches cannot surpass the abundance threshold on any given year, month or week.

Our fishery takes place in the open ocean. The end destination for the Salmon is the Copper River where they will spawn and die, completing their life cycle. Their eggs will produce the next generation of salmon who will leave the safety of the river beds for the open ocean. Amazingly, years later those little fish return, all grown up; to the same tributary to end their life cycle and produce the following generation.

 Sonars are located at key access points at the mouth of the Copper River. These sonars count the fish as they swim past. Hourly totals are used to inform when the next fishery harvest will occur. If very few fish have entered the river system we will be prohibited from fishing. If many fish are charging past the sonar counter- additional fishing time will be announced by the fishery biologists who closely monitor each days influx of fish into the river system.

Because of a very late spring (we still have snow in our yard) the river is still very frozen. This restricts water outflow and gives the salmon less water to swim up stream in. Also the sonar counter cannot be mounted into position when massive ice chunks are still breaking loose and floating down stream. 
Without the counters fish biologists are cautious and give little fishing time.

Fish don't have calendars and the general consensus is that our fishery will be off to a slow start. Once temperatures warm and the river system begins flowing (and the snow melts form our yard) we anticipate our catches to improve in volume.

However the pre-season prediction by biologists is that we will have a smaller than average Copper River Salmon return and minimal fishing time with small catch volume  anticipated. 

Every year is different. But as always we will do our best to get the very finest of these beautiful Salmon from our hands to yours. 😊

Happy Earth Day!
Over 70% of this lovely place we call home is water-covered. 

On Earth Day and every day there is opportunity in our choices. 
How will our individual actions benefit or be of detriment to our ocean and planet health?
 
The good news is- it’s easy to affect change. 
Over time our daily, cumulative decisions add up. By simply considering the production methods used in the foods we consume and the values of the companies we purchase from- we are shifting the food system. 
By using our hearts and minds when evaluating which businesses to purchase from we can create a more just and equitable world.  

We humbling ask that today you consider the seafood you eat. 
Was it caught in a well managed, sustainable harvest, wild-catch fishery? Is it traceable back to independent small boat fishers that handle their catch with care? If you don’t know- do you trust the place of purchase to reliably answer your questions? 
​
If it’s seems too much to consider, we offer you this assurance instead. 
At Copper River Fish Market all our offerings are 100% traceable, caught and handled with exceptional care by a small- boat fishers and only sourced from ecologically considerate, well managed, sustainable harvest yield fisheries. Never treated with chemicals or injected with fillers. Our seafood is as nature intended. Shipped direct to your home. From Ocean to Plate we are here for you.

If you wouldn't eat a gorilla you probably don't want to be eating a dolphin either.
Or supporting other food production techniques that damage our planet or it's most defenseless inhabitants- wild animals. It is important to know where your food comes from and how your food was harvested. Especially with animal proteins. Just sayin...

RECENT ARTICLE FROM A SEAFOOD INDUSTRY NEWS SITE
"A study by a food engineering student at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) has found that evidence of tuna cans produced in Mexico containing dolphin meat.
The study, performed by food engineering student Karla Vanessa Hernández Herbert, with advice from UNAM’s Secretary General José Francisco Montiel Sosa, examined 15 cans of tuna bought nearby the university. Of those 15 cans, three were found to contain traces of dolphin DNA, confirming the presence of dolphin meat.
"Although the ingestion of dolphin does not represent a health risk, the fraudulent addition of substances that are not authentic and the deception of the consumer are unacceptable," Hernández said in a press release from UNAM.
The DNA identification used the same technique utilized by the Fast Fish ID – the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The reaction can be used to create many copies of specific strands of DNA, allowing for easier identification of individual species.
The study was intended to determine whether the canned tuna contained any species other than what was advertised on the can.
The news comes two years after a decade-long fight between the U.S. and Mexico over dolphin-safe labels was concluded by the World Trade Organization. Beginning on 24 October, 2008, the fight centered around Mexico disputing the U.S. rules on the labeling of tuna as dolphin-safe, on the grounds that the standards unfairly discriminated against Mexico. At issue was a strategy of tuna fishing in Mexico known as “fishing on dolphins,” where vessels will follow dolphins swimming with tuna.
Ultimately, the WTO sided with the U.S., upholding the dolphin-safe labeling requirements and allowing Mexican tuna to be excluded.
The news also comes in the wake of other ongoing seafood trade issues between Mexico and the U.S. In 2018, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service placed bans on imports of multiple types of fish caught in Mexico, related to potential harm to the highly endangered vaquita. A challenge on that ban by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was later rejected, and the seafood ban was expanded earlier this year.
Mexican publication Excelsior reported the study did not identify the brands of tuna tested.
“The objective of the work was not to denounce any brand as such, and of course even in 2018, with another administration, it was not the objective to point out at the national level that we were doing something wrong,” Montiel Sosa told the publication.

​By 
Chris Chase 
August 26, 2020