The Copper River salmon is one of the most popular and expensive pieces of seafood out there and the first shipment of these arrived in the continental U.S. today.

Here are five things you should know about it:

• The fishery for Copper River salmon — specifically a type called king salmon — opened in Alaska at 7 a.m., with the first shipment of the fish arriving at the Sea-Tac Airport Friday morning.
• Fishermen were catching very few fish so far, according to Wild Salmon Seafood Market at Fisherman’s Terminal co-owner Paula Cassidy because of the weather. “Our fishermen feel because of the very cold water temperatures they had a late ice break-up on the Copper River Delta that the fish just aren’t ready to return,” said Cassidy.
• This means that the prices may be expensive, reaching up to $60 a pound. “Here at Wild Salmon Seafood Market we try not to do that. We try to keep it as low as possible without losing money. We could see some exorbitant pricing on the first run,” said Cassidy.
• Co-owner Jon Spelt said that he expects the price of Copper River King salmon to be in the upper $40s per pound.
• He added that the fact that fewer king salmon are available in the North Pacific, keeping the price of it high. “There’s fewer fish out there for a variety of reasons, whether it’s cyclical or whether it’s climate change or whatever, something’s happening that there’s fewer fish coming back and in addition to that they’re coming back smaller,” said Spelt.