By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Processor capacity to handle millions of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon in compressed runs was again an issue in the world's largest wild red salmon fishery. Still, a lot of fish were processed and overall things seem to have worked out well, a state official said Aug. 3.

"One thing that happened this year was we had big catches earlier, and it was a surprise," said Geron Bruce, assistant director of commercial fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "It was a surprise, but we took over 29 million reds, which was more than the forecast. I suspect people are pretty happy. If things are bad we hear about it.

"They went on (harvest) limits at the beginning of the season and there was a flurry of complaints coming in and we didn't hear any more since then," he said. "It actually seems to have worked out pretty well. I think we would have heard more later in the season if people weren't happy."

For Trident Seafoods in particular, the season began as a challenge, because Trident, a major processor in the bay, was putting in new systems for the plant's canned and freezer sections. But the weather didn't cooperate and the first barge carrying the new equipment showed up 18 days later than scheduled in Naknek, said John Garner, head of salmon operations for Trident.

Trident had a sizeable project going on.

"In the canned side and part of the freezer side last fall we had to gut the systems and prepare for new systems to be put in place," he said. "So we were not able to begin reconstruction of the plant until that barge showed up and we lost 18 days associated with getting the plant ready."

Even with arrival of the barge, extremely cold weather made working conditions terrible, he said.

And then the first compressed run came early, June 23, well ahead of the anticipated first week of July activity.

"So we had the dual problem of a fair amount of fish and a plant that wasn't ready to go," Garner said. "While the amount of fish we caught during that period of time was not overwhelming in a typical period of construction for us, it was more than we were able to handle, given the situation, so we had to put our fishermen on limits."

Trident sent some fish to other processors, and later to facilities in King Cove and to Cordova.

Other processors also put harvesters on limits during the two compressed runs, but those limits on how much could be delivered for each individual fishing period were later lifted.

"I know there was some controversy about limits, and we feel terrible about that," Garner said. "The reason it happened was we had major projects going on that are increasing our capacity for the long term. We are making these investments and they are significant investments for the long term. We are going to be in better shape now for years to come."

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaska

journal.com.