ComFish Comes to Town

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

Kodiak’s favorite fishery-themed trade show, ComFish, comes to town Thursday with fishy goods like nets and boat engines.

It’s not just a platform for buying and selling.

ComFish also brings with it free lectures from professionals in the fishing industry, exhibitions of local talent, and free food to wrap up the day with a full stomach.

Chamber of Commerce director Trevor Brown says the trade show had small beginnings but grew over the course of 38 years.

“It started as a tent at Crab Festival and then expanded from there to the national guard and then from there it went up to the Coast Guard base into the hangar sort as we were taking over the federal fisheries there, moving into the foreign fleets as people were gearing up, buying things, ships, and we had a couple hundred booths.”

ComFish is now at the convention center, which can hold about 44 booths.

While vendors sell their wares, the public can drop by the Kodiak Inn Harbor Room for a series of talks Thursday and Friday. Louise Stutes will give a state legislative update and representatives from the Navy will talk about the Northern Edge exercises in the Gulf of Alaska, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The Chamber of Commerce, which organizes ComFish, has a list of the vendors and lectures on its website, along with a full list of events.

ComFish kicks off Wednesday with a taco night at the Kodiak Island Brewery and ends Saturday with a Fishermen’s showcase where participants will demonstrate their seaworthiness.