An Alaska Board of Fisheries decision that delays the famed Copper River opener for a week this May has many harvesters in that fishery worried about competition for other salmon fisheries that will also be open then – but according to Rich Wheeler of 60° North Seafoods LLC, it will be just fine.
“Our biggest selling point is quality,” said Wheeler, whose seafood processing company will be in full swing for its eighth year in 2025. “We’re planning on just nothing special at this point; just the same great product.”
Wheeler noted that there have been times when the mid-May first opener was a slow one resulting in not many fish – but the expense of tens of thousands of dollars on fishing tender contracts can be “a high risk with what could be little reward,” he said.
The Wheelers operate two companies: 60° North, which sells wholesale, while Sena Sea is a retail operation, going directly to consumers nationwide.
It will be the 11th year opener for Sena Sea – named for Wheeler’s wife Sena, whose grandfather, Lars Jangaard, immigrated from Norway with his brothers and became a commercial fisherman in 1938. They fished using traditional Norwegian longlines and passed that knowledge on to their children. Sena’s father, Art Hodgins, started fishing when he married Jangaard’s daughter Mary and went on to fish for 30 years. Sena said she has fond memories of fishing trips with him as a teenager on board the Alrita.
Wheeler learned traditional Norwegian fishing techniques from Sena’s dad fishing on board the Alrita. That’s where he learned, according to an article on the company’s history, that “the lowest life on earth is the skipper daughter’s boyfriend.”
Rich Wheeler has been fishing commercially for 25 years and does the majority of fishing for Sena Sea. Sena Wheeler earned a master’s degree in nutrition and food science – with a specialty in quantifying omega 3s in fish and determining preferred handling practices for premium quality.
Also working with their parents these days are their children: Hugh, 19, Vansee, 16, and Eedee, 13.
The majority of harvesters and others engaged in the commercial harvest are concerned, however, about other Pacific salmon fisheries opening in Alaska at the end of May.
In the past, said Kristen Smith, executive director of the Prince William Sound Economic Development District, “we had three weeks in the season when we are the only fresh Alaska salmon on the market, and now it’s two. It will affect the price and how much fish they can sell.” The price comes down when there are other fish on the market.
“It’s not a matter of whether the fish taste any different but the price is different because there are more fish on the market,” she said.
Smith said Cordova residents are scared about what the effect will be from the availability of fresh wild Pacific salmon from elsewhere in Alaska.
“It affects fishermen and community resources everywhere,” she said.
