Healthy Wild Fish  Healthy Wild Fishery

Prime Select's Copper River Wild Sockeye, King, and Coho Salmon are harvested from the icy waters of the Northern Gulf of Alaska. May through September the oldest and most famous commercial salmon fishery in Alaska takes place on the Copper River Flats. The Copper River Wild Sockeye and King Salmon are the earliest and highest quality salmon in the State of Alaska. The Kings run through mid-June, the Sockeye continue to run through early August, while in late July the Coho begin to run and go strong through September.

When you buy a Copper River Wild salmon you are buying salmon from abundant, healthy natural runs. You are not buying endangered salmon. The wild salmon runs in Alaska are at record levels. In fact, both the 1996 and 1997 Copper River sockeye runs have been all time record highs. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADG&G) regulates the fisheries for long-term health of the run stocks.

• State of Alaska limits each fishing district by time, area, net size and the limited entry system.
• Approximately 540 limited entry permits for the Copper River District
• Plentiful fish to the spawning grounds assures long-term health of the run
• Copper River management aided by sonar counter upriver of the commercial fishery

When you buy a gillnet caught Prime Select Wild salmon you are buying a salmon from a local inshore drift gillnet fishery. You are not buying salmon caught with massive high seas drift nets sweeping the open ocean. The Copper River fishery still consists of small family operations. A great American resource made available to you by commercial fishermen.

• Nets are 150 fathoms (900 ft. long) and 60 meshes deep (av. depth of 26ft.)
• Net mesh sizes are very specific for each salmon species
• Average boat 27 to 32 feet in length, one man operations
• While fishing, nets must be tended at all times
• Copper River fishery successfully completed the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries) marine mammal observer program

On the Audubon Society Fish Scale, Wild Alaska Salmon and Alaska Halibut are both rated "Green". See Audubon's Seafoold Wallet Card from the Living Oceans Seafood Lover's Initiative at http://seafood.audubon.org/seafood_wallet.pdf for more information about the Audubon Society's efforts to guide consumer choices toward seafood sources that are more abundant and better managed.

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Nature's Wild Salmon: Alaska's #1 Resource

salmon@pssifish.com

PRIME SELECT SEAFOODS, INC. Phone (907) 424-7750 Fax (907) 424-7751 TOLL FREE 1-888-870-7292 P.O. Pox 846 Cordova, Alaska 99574