Alaska Fish Processing and Packing

On this page we give an overview of Alaska fish processing, shipping and transport options. You have many options when handling your salmon catch after your depart our fishing lodge. The methods in which you handle fresh fillets are determined by your budget and preferences. When you keep salmon at the lodge, your guide will fillet and freeze the fish for you. We do now have a commercial vacuum sealer which we can use to seal your fish. Upon leaving the lodge, you have two options to take your fish home. First is to bring up your own cooler as an additional piece of luggage and leave this cooler at our locked storage facility at Rust’s Flying Service. This will allow you to pack your frozen fillets upon your return from the lodge and check the cooler as your second piece of luggage if you have a direct flight heading home. In almost all domestic flights this works quite well. Insulated fish boxes are also available at our flying service and/or throughout Anchorage. Fish boxes are the best way to transport fillets and keep them frozen solid on your trip home. A second option would be to have the fish processed and shipped home. While at the lodge, you can fill out an order card and we will ensure that your fish are picked up by Alaska Sausage & Seafood Inc. in Anchorage. They can pack and ship fresh fillets, or smoke and package a mixed percentage of your fillets upon request. They will then ship the fresh/smoked fish to your home/office when you return from your vacation. Additional Alaska Sausage & Seafood information is available at their website: Alaska Sausage and Seafood, or for current pricing and options please call them directly at 1-800-798-3636. If you have additional travel plans after your stay with us, most hotels in Anchorage have cold storage as does the Anchorage airport. Finally, we are allocated a preferred 50 pound baggage limit per person on the float planes from the lodge to Anchorage. There is always additional capacity for your fish, but we encourage all of our guests to retain a ballpark of 20lbs/person max. If you are to store your frozen fillets for more than one or two days prior to departing the state, we highly advise storing your fish at one of the airport facilities.

Baggage and freezer storage is available at the Airport in the South Terminal.

Huntleigh USA
3801 W. 43rd Avenue
Anchorage, Alaska 99517
(907) 248-0373
Level 1, next to Bag Claim No. 4. Passengers must present an airline ticket or boarding pass in order to use this service.

Alaska Luggage & Seafood Shipping Services
(907) 644-8256
Level 2, across from TSA check-in. Passengers must present an airline ticket or boarding pass in order to use this service.

Estimates for Taking Fish Home: As a planning tool, salmon typically yield 40-60% of their body weight in fillets. For example, if you catch your limit of ten 8-pound salmon over five days you will be fine to bring home your fillets from the lodge and in checking into the airlines with the cooler you have brought up. We do encourage catch and release when possible, and ask that you think about how much salmon for a year is right for you. 35lbs of fillets creates a meal for two weekly nearly all year. In all cases the lodge policy requires strict adherence to current Alaska state sport fishing regulations, and we ask that our guests support us in maintaining this practice. If there are any updated or special regulations which increase or decrease catch limits in our river, they will be posted at the lodge during your stay.