Why Are Tony’s Salmon Fresher?
Dennis fishes alone in a small boat in the Copper River Delta and the open ocean. Using GPS data from previous years, he catches fish in gill nets and immediately bleeds and ices each fish to assure ultimate quality. Dennis has a deep respect for the environment and the fish he catches - taking particular care to handle them properly.

After each 24-72 hour permit expires, he rushes the fresh fish back to Cordova where his wife, Alicia is waiting with ice packs and styrofoam lined boxes. They weigh and pack their finest quality fish and then Alicia brings them to the airport where they arrive in our markets about 24 hours later. Bruised fish are either smoked or sold to the cannery.

By comparison, many other fishermen do not ice and drop their fish off on cannery ships, which take 1-3 days longer to reach Cordova for processing, and then
7-9 days by barge to Seattle or Anchorage. Brokers then buy and sell the fish, shipping them to the lower 48 states and other parts of the globe. Our fish are consistently 7 or more days fresher than any other source!

The Copper River
Nearly 300 miles long, the Copper River is one of the largest in Alaska, flowing up to 380,000 cubic feet per second and dumping 65 million tons of silt annually into the Copper River Delta, the largest contiguous wetland on the Pacific coast.

With two calving glaciers, hundreds of rapids and millions of tons of silt to fight against, these salmon face the longest and most arduous spawning run in the world. Mother Nature provides them with generous stores of Omega-3 fatty acid rich fat. Dennis harvests these fish before they enter the river when they are bright, firm and at their absolute peak.

Alaskan fishing regulations strictly limit the annual harvest to assure for the future generations of fish and fishermen. Mature fish are harvested only after their feeding cycle has ended and adequate escapement is assured.