State Announces First Kuskokwim Bay Commercial Fishing Opening Of Season kyuk.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kyuk.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Credit Krysti Shallenberger / KYUK
This will be the second year that Seattle-based E&E Foods is purchasing salmon from local fishermen in Kuskokwim Bay. Fishermen and fish buyers are optimistic that the Kuskokwim Bay commercial fishery will build on the success of last year.
E&E Foods Chief Operating Officer Ken Ng said that his company purchased over a million pounds of salmon from Kuskokwim Bay fishermen last year.
“We hope to purchase more,” Ng said of this year.
Ng said that the pandemic reduced the demand for salmon last year, but with restaurants and the economy reopening, he is optimistic that the demand for salmon will be higher this season. He said that E&E’s processing ship in Goodnews Bay can handle 70,000 pounds of salmon per day, which is the same capacity as the ship that was there last year. The fish will be frozen before being shipped out of the region, and most will end up in grocery stores.
Credit Krysti Shallenberger / KYUK
Commercial fishing will return to Kuskokwim Bay this summer for the second year in a row.
Alaska Fish and Game Assistant Area Management Fishery Biologist Ben Gray said that commercially harvested Kuskokwim Bay salmon will have the same buyer as last year: E&E Foods. The Seattle-based company buys fish across Alaska. Dates for commercial fishing openings have not been finalized, but Gray said that they would not occur before July 1. He said that the commercial fishing season will likely be open throughout July, and potentially into the middle of August. He said there would be a similar schedule as last year, with commercial openers typically every other day. Nets must be 6 inch or less mesh, 45 meshes deep, and not exceed 300 feet long.