Alaska Air Cargo delivers first catch of salmon

Copper River fish fans celebrate with a cook-off at Sea-Tac Airport.    More than 16,000 pounds of fresh Copper River salmon arrived in Seattle on a fish-filled Alaska Airlines plane touching down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday. Alaska Air Cargo had three more flights scheduled throughout the day to bring in an additional 48,000 pounds of salmon to market.
   “Our Cargo employees are working around the clock to ensure we deliver the first catch of the coveted wild Copper River salmon to market, often within 24 hours of being pulled from the water,” said Jason Berry, managing director at Alaska Air Cargo. 
   Every year Alaska Air Cargo partners with the state of Alaska’s three largest seafood processors — Trident Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Copper River Seafoods — to bring the coveted fish to Seattle and Anchorage, Alaska, where it will then be delivered to restaurants and grocery stores throughout the Pacific Northwest, and across the country.
   The season’s first fish, a 45-pound king salmon donated by Trident Seafoods, became the catch of the day for three Seattle chefs competing for the best salmon recipe in the ninth annual Copper Chef Cook-off at the airport on Friday.