Seinerman
2013-01-24 20:32:19
I'm looking to buy troll caught kings/cohos to augment my direct marketing business. I would prefer h&g frozen at sea. I'm in the Cook Inlet region and do not have access to a year round salmon fishery. This could be a good opportunity to establish a longterm marketing relationship. I definitely want to go fisherman direct at a competitive price. I fish cod, crab and salmon myself, so I know what it costs to put out a high quality product. Thanks!
Abundance
2013-01-24 20:51:59
I don't currently do Frozen at Sea, but am curious as what time of year you would be interested in buying and how we could get the product to you? Getting our stuff to Cook Inlet could be an expensive thing.
Seinerman
2013-01-25 01:14:11
I don't know what your seasons are there, but I am looking for product all year, with less demand in July due to local availability. I know it is going to be expensive to move, that's why I'm looking at frozen at sea so I can move reasonable amounts of high quality product. High quality and consistent supply is what I'm after, and I expect to pay a premium over the local processors plus the shipping/handling costs if I can find the right fishermen. I'm definitely interested in knowing the catcher, their story, their boat and would be profiling my suppliers (with permission, of course).
Salty
2013-01-25 01:55:10
Thanks for the response: Dock price for winter iced kings is $9.75 straight today. I don't know of anyone who freezes troll kings in the winter fishery but for the right price some guys might start. But, since most trips, until April, out of Sitka are for only a day or two and the fish are coming out of 40 degree ocean water, dressed immediately, the quality delivered iced to the dock is superb.
Abundance
2013-01-25 07:41:25
Another thing to know is that most boats will catch only one to five fish a day in the winter, and the number of boats doing the winter fishery is still not very high. The weather keeps people off of the water half of the time. I do think that more people would be doing the winter kings if the fishery became more important to out business, but even at very high prices, it is hard to get people motivated to charge out into the sleet for hours of no bites. Our biggest push for kings, I am sorry to inform you, is in July. We are closed to king fishing mid July to mid August, and them we get a varying length opening in late August. Unless the late August opening extend into early September, we don't fish kings in September. Winter kings open up again on the 11th of October, and fishing can be pretty hot that time of year. The price usually sucks then, so I can see people trying to get frozen fish to you. I guess what I am saying is, our work may go on year round, but our supply is anything but constant.
Seinerman
2013-01-25 17:29:09
Thanks to everyone! Small amounts of fresh product during the winter and a shot of quantity in October could actually work quite well. If I know what I'm dealing with, I can adjust my game plan accordingly. High quality iced fish could work well, too. What are your primary ports? I think akair cargo is going to have to be the way to get the fish to ANC. From there, I have ice and transportation.
Salty
2013-01-26 03:26:35
The primary winter king ports are Yakutat, Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell, Craig, and Ketchikan. A few might also be delivered in Juneau.
Fishing has been slow this winter but usually starts picking up mid February. By April there is usually pretty good production with the best fishing usually in late April. These winter kings are all feeders and are really sweet.
In late March there are usually krill blooms around the region that lasts through April. The feeder kings will gorge themselves on the krill and become one of the great delicacies on earth as the rich krill (shellfish) flavor infuses into the flesh.
Abundance
2013-01-27 00:40:19
The primary troll port with the largest amount of boats would be Sitka. I would hesitate to guess the second largest, looking up the number of fishing boats by their homeport shows that Wrangel, Petersburg Craig and Ketchikan all have roughly the same number of boats. Also what is important is that Sitka and Ketchikan have perhaps the best transportation infrastructure, getting fish from Craig would be significantly more expensive and difficult. It is the reason that prices are usually a dollar or two less out here than in Ketchikan. I would guess at Sitka being your best bet for testing the waters. Whenever you hear about a small experimental fish company making it work, it is usually in Sitka.