At Alaska Blue Harvest Seafoods, fishing is more than a job — it is our family’s way of life. We are Brian and Lisa Gabriel, and for nearly four decades, we have fished the waters of Cook Inlet, harvesting Wild Alaska salmon with pride, hard work, and respect for the resource.

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Our story began in the late 1970s when Brian Sr. first worked as a deckhand on a local setnet site. In 1987, we purchased our own fishing site and began building our family fishing business that continues today. From the beginning, our goal has been simple: responsibly harvest the highest-quality wild salmon while sharing the traditions of Alaska fishing with future generations. What started with one fishing site grew into a family-run operation where we harvest, process, and package our own salmon from tide to table.

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Every summer, our lives revolve around the tides. Before sunrise, we prepare gear, launch skiffs into the Cook Inlet, and work side by side as a family to fish each opening safely and efficiently. Fishing in Alaska is physically demanding, unpredictable, and shaped entirely by weather, tides, and fish runs. Yet it is the challenge, independence, and connection to the ocean that make it so rewarding.

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We take pride in producing premium Wild Alaska salmon handled with care from the moment it leaves the water. Our fish are immediately bled and iced, then hand-cleaned, filleted, vacuum packed, and shipped directly to customers around the world.​

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In recent years, however, the Upper Cook Inlet Eastside Setnet fishery has faced major uncertainty due to declining returns of Kenai River Chinook salmon. In 2024, the Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted a Stock of Concern plan that greatly reduced fishing opportunity for all Eastside Setnet families. Faced with the possibility of losing our fishery, our family chose to innovate rather than walk away.

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In the spring of 2024, we received a commissioner’s permit to develop and test a new fishing method designed specifically to harvest sockeye salmon while releasing king salmon alive. Working directly on our fishing site, we helped pioneer the modern Set Beach Seine concept for the Eastside Setnet fishery.

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The Set Beach Seine project was built from years of observations, ideas, and firsthand experience on the beach and collaboration with our fishing neighbors. Unlike traditional gillnet gear, the seine system allows fish to remain free-swimming and alive in the net during the fishing process, giving crews the opportunity to carefully sort and release king salmon with zero mortality during testing.

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Throughout the 2024 season, our family spent countless hours designing, testing, modifying, and operating the gear under real fishing conditions in Cook Inlet tides. The project demonstrated that alternative gear could provide a pathway for conservation while still allowing fishing families the opportunity to sustainably harvest abundant sockeye salmon.

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At Alaska Blue Harvest Seafoods, fishing is more than a business — it is our family’s way of life. For nearly four decades, we have fished the waters of Cook Inlet, harvesting Wild Alaska salmon with pride, hard work, and respect for the resource. Fishing is hard work, but there is nothing else we would rather do.​​​​