Alaska Airlines suspends red-carpet ceremonial fly-out of first Copper River king salmon

This May 2016 photo, published by Alaska Airlines, shows part of that year's First Fish ceremony in Seattle. (Alaska Airlines courtesy photo)
Alaska Airlines has stopped rolling out the red carpet for the opening of Alaska's salmon season.
The airline has paused a 15-year-old program that celebrates the Copper River salmon run, one of Alaska's earliest commercial salmon fisheries, the company confirmed by email.
For more than a decade, Alaska Airlines observed the unofficial opening of Alaska's salmon season by flying a king salmon from Cordova to Seattle, where it was presented to chefs in a red carpet photo opportunity known as the First Fish event.
Last year, the company switched things up with an event in Boston, instead of Seattle. This year, the company didn't publicly mark the start of the salmon season.
'I wouldn't describe it as an end — more of a pause. We've had a lot of exciting developments at Alaska Air Cargo, including the addition of new widebody cargo operations alongside our regular domestic and in-state service. Given the increased activity, we made the decision to pause this year's First Fish event,' said Tim Thompson, Alaska Airlines' public affairs manager, by email.
Thompson said the company is still committed to flying out Alaska's seafood.
'Since last Friday, we've already transported over 150,000 pounds of Copper River salmon out of Cordova,' he said by email.
The decision to pause the 'First Fish' event comes amid an uncertain time for Alaska's commercial king salmon fishery.
While the state is forecasting better returns for pink, sockeye, coho and chum salmon, king salmon — formally called Chinook salmon — aren't faring as well.
Last year, Alaska fishermen harvested 244,000 Chinook, according to figures from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This year's harvest is expected to be only 144,000 fish, and the state has significantly restricted commercial fishing for Chinook and other species of salmon, to allow for more fish to return.
This month, a conservation group filed a lawsuit as part of a campaign to urge the federal government to list Gulf of Alaska king salmon as threatened or endangered. The same group has successfully convinced many restaurants in Seattle — Alaska Airlines' home city — to remove king salmon from their menus.
The Alaska seafood industry has been struggling to weather economic and environmental forces over the last several years, including low prices, high operating costs and a shrunken global market share, prompting a state legislative task force and some new actions to provide aid to the industry.
Christa Hoover is the director of the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association, which promotes the region's fish on behalf of its fishermen.
She said that regardless of the reason for Alaska Airlines' decision, the First Fish program will be missed as long as it's gone.
'It was a great, fun event for us to be part of, and we look forward to it every year,' she said. It built this really great excitement. And it wasn't solely focused on Copper River salmon. It was timed with ours because traditionally, we start the season off, but it was just really fun. You could feel the energy of it, and then you watch that energy kind of reverberate across the country. And it was just a really fun way to start the season, and we miss it terribly.'

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