Wild Pacific Salmon

What You Need to Know to Make a Sustainable Choice

Jan 28, 2009 Stuart Stein

Walk into any supermarket on any day and you will likely find some form of salmon. One reason for this is that salmon is one of the most versatile fish available.

So what do you need to know to make a sustainable choice?

Know the Where, What and When

Knowing your salmon species, together with where and how they were caught, will help you get the best product for your money, promote sustainable cuisine and ensure that you get the most flavor from your fish. Wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest consist of five species plus Steelhead trout, an anadromous rainbow trout, and Coastal or Sea Run Cutthroat trout. In general, choose fish, whether whole or pre-cut, that are moist, shiny, firm to the touch and smell like the ocean, not like fish. Ask when and how the fish was caught, where it came from and how it has been stored. As James de Coquet said, “Salmon are like men: too soft a life is not good for them.”

Chinook or King salmon are the largest of the Pacific salmon, averaging between 15 and 40 pounds. They spawn in long, large rivers and therefore need the greatest amount of fat reserves. They run in the spring through the autumn with the spring and summer runs being the most prolific. They are commercially caught from central California to northwest Alaska. You may have heard of “Ivory” salmon. Ivory salmon are a white-fleshed King salmon native to certain rivers of southeast Alaska and Canada. Most salmon get their color from carotene in the food they eat while white or Ivory Kings are genetically predisposed with an extra enzyme to process that carotene rather than collect it in their flesh. Ivory salmon is acclaimed for its milder, silkier and more buttery flavor.

Coho or “Silver” salmon are slightly smaller and have a lower fat content than King salmon. They are autumn spawners with peak runs in July and August. They are often present in small neighborhood streams and rivers like the Rogue River in southern Oregon.

Sockeye or “Red” salmon are unique, as they must spend their juvenile years in a lake.They are called “red” because their skin turns red when they spawn. The name sockeye means “fish of fishes” in the native Salish language. Whole fish rarely exceed four or five pounds, but we believe they are they the most flavorful of the wild salmon. We have a hard time buying sockeye because they are so highly prized in Japan they’re often sold before the boat docks.

Pink (Humpback) and Chum (Keta orDog) salmon are the bargain-basement salmon and we don’t recommend using either for dinner. They are the smallest of the salmon and have very low fat contents. These salmon are mostly canned or smoked.

Steelhead trout, like Atlantic salmon,survive after spawning. They are a sea-going trout that have a medium fat content.While there are no major physical differences between rainbow and steelhead trout, the nature of their differing lifestyles has resulted in subtle distinctions in color, shape and flavor.Oregon does not allow commercial fisheries to fish for Steelhead and the British Columbian stocks are almost depleted. Sport and Native American fishermen are the only ones allowed to keep these prized fish.

In the US, the Atlantic salmon on the retail market is always farm-raised, since wild Atlantic salmon are extremely rare and there is no longer a commercial fishery. Many of the East Coast’s native Atlantic salmon populations are extinct, while remaining wild Atlantic salmon stocks in Maine and parts of eastern Canada are listed as an endangered species.

For information you need to make responsible and sustainable choices visit Sustainable Salmon - What Does it Mean?

This article is an excerpt from, The Sustainable Kitchen - Passionate Cooking Inspired by Farms, Forests and Oceans

The copyright of the article Wild Pacific Salmon in Gourmet Food is owned by Stuart Stein. Permission to republish Wild Pacific Salmon in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Wild King Salmon