Debora King, executive director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, confirmed the super success of Kodiak’s ComFish tradeshow as it draw larger audience in comparison to last year’s. She informed that they had a couple thousand people who went through and there were more booths this year, as well.
According to King a number of fishermen were at the show. Trawlers in attendance were stuck on shore because of bad weather and herring fishermen hadn’t taken to the water because of low prices for their catch. She told that there were a lot of fishermen, and that’s very encouraging for us because that is whom we put the show on for.
Even the weather going south turned into a benefit for the event, says King. ComFish also hosted a slew of vendors representing different facets of the fishing industry from the Coast Guard to John Deere and speakers on subjects ranging from catch shares to personal flotation devices. King said attendees were pleased with what ComFish offered.
Laine Welch, fishery forums event organizer, said she too heard nothing but good feedback. She told that she heard nothing but good reviews from the trade show component and fish forums. She said the forums were well attended, with Saturday in particular packed full. The events about local options for small-wind turbines, catch shares and “Red Gold” — a movie about Pebble Mine — was standing room only.
The only negative aspect of ComFish was the timing. King told that the timing of the show didn’t allow for the gubernatorial candidates to come. The planning for next year’s ComFish is already under way. One of the things being looked at is dates of the legislative session and fisheries or other major state events so scheduling conflicts can be avoided.
