First-run Copper River reds, heralding the start of Alaska's 2026 wild salmon fishery, are in high demand, selling for up to $74.99 a pound. 

A third drift net opener, this time up from 12 to 24 hours, was scheduled for the Copper River District of Prince William Sound for Thursday, May 28.  

As of Wednesday, May 27, the total harvest came to 73,165 sockeye salmon and 1,224 Chinooks, all from the Copper River district. 

At the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle on Tuesday, May 26, shipping manager Hillary Sager said that their first shipment from the Copper River on Alaska's Prince William Sound sold out due to preorders. "Demand is still very high and all the fish are spoken for right now," she said. 

The $74.99 price for sockeye fillets from the famed fish market do not include shipping. 

At two popular seafood shops in Anchorage, 10th & M and New Sagaya, sockeye fillets were selling fast at $28.95 a pound.  A spokesperson at 10th & M said the average order was for two pounds of fillets.  

At the online shop FishEx those fillets at $29.95 a pound and Copper River sockeye tail portions were $18.95 a pound. 

Commercial harvesters out in rain for the first opener on Friday, May 22, made about 300 deliveries with a total of967 Chinooks and 39,000 sockeyes, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Jeremy Botz in Cordova.  The Bering River District was also open, but no harvests were reported to date. 

Average weight of the fish was 13 pounds for kings and 6 pounds for the sockeyes. "They look very healthy," said Botz. 

The harvest consisted mainly of four- and five-year salmon. 

The weather for the first opener was predominantly rain, but not a lot of wind, but by the second opener the rain was heavier with winds of up to 15 mph. 

Fishermen had noted earlier that the price of fuel would figure in the price of their catch this year. As of May 26 gas at the pump in Cordova was $6.50 a gallon and fishermen were paying about $3.89 a gallon for marine diesel.