I didn't understand much about the fishing industry in Cordova until we moved here. There's a lot that I still don't know, but I've been trying to pay attention and I can share a very little bit of what I've learned.
There are about two openers held every week. The openers are usually 24 or 48 hours in length. Most of the boats will leave the harbor the night before an opener and return the following evening with their catch. It's pretty cool to watch all the boats coming and going from the harbor. We have an excellent view from the house!
I did a little bit of research online and was able to find out that during the first opener there were about 18,600 Red Salmon & about 1,400 King Salmon caught. I don't know how those numbers measure up to past years. I guess it's hard to make comparisons until the season is over.
After all the fishermen return with their catch, they off load to one of the several canneries here in Cordova. The fish is then prepped and shipped out. This is where Darius' job comes in. I don't know how he does it, but between him and the other guys he works with (which aren't many) they load all that fish on cargo planes and off it goes. I can't remember if it was the first or second opener, but he ended up working 26 hours straight without sleep. Needless to say we don't see much of him while this is going on. Some nights he's at the airport and works straight through his shift the following day.
Alaska Airlines in Cordova shipped out nearly 162,000 lbs of salmon as a result of an opener on the 19th. That's about 100,000 lbs more than what was shipped after the first opener of the season. It's not official, but it's likely a new record for the amount of Copper River salmon transported in a day.
I guess the lack of sleep is one thing, but I cringe at the thought of how physcially draining it must be for Darius to help stack all those boxes of fish on the planes. I don't know how he does it, but I adore him for how hard he works for his family.
