Tony Neal
Founder & Commercial Fisherman
Tony has been fishing Bristol Bay since 1987. He founded Popsie Fish Co to put the family's own catch directly into the hands of the people who eat it.
Tony holds a Bristol Bay set gillnet limited entry permit and runs the family's setnet operation every summer through the sockeye run. Setnetting is the oldest, most selective way to fish the bay: nets anchored from the beach, worked by hand on the tide, hauled the moment the fish hit. It is slower than the big drift boats and it is how this family has always done it.
After thirty-seven seasons he has watched the bay through record runs and lean ones, through the fight over Pebble Mine, and through the shift from selling to processors for pennies to shipping flash-frozen sockeye straight to families in the lower 48. Popsie is the result: no middleman, no subscription, no corporate parent. Just the fish his family caught.
This is not a marketing badge. Under Alaska law, a limited entry permit cannot be owned by a company — only by an individual, and an individual may hold only one. The permit holder must be physically on the fishing grounds while fishing, and only the permit holder can deliver and sell the catch. Every sale is run through a card reader, so the chain from this permit to your box is recorded end to end.
It is the reason a venture-funded corporation literally cannot be what we are. You can verify Tony's permit yourself in the public CFEC database: cfec.state.ak.us.
What Tony knows
- ▸The Bristol Bay sockeye fishery and how it is managed
- ▸Setnet fishing methods and gear
- ▸Wild salmon sustainability and the Pebble Mine fight
- ▸Sourcing and direct-to-consumer seafood
Meet the rest of the family
Popsie is one family with four permits. The whole story is on our About page.