How are the fish harvested?
Our family operates a setnet fishery, a form of gillnetting in which one end of our net is anchored on land while the other end is anchored offshore. Salmon swimming along the edge of Nushagak Bay get caught in the net, and we pick them out individually into our skiff, bleeding them to improve quality and immediately placing them in slush ice. After cleaning, fish are kept on ice until they are packaged for delivery.
Does the COVID-19 virus affect the safety of the fish?
The CDC, FDA, USDA and NOAA have not found that the COVID-19 virus can be spread through food. For more information, see this webpage from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute https://www.alaskaseafood.org/foodsafetycovid19/
In what form are the fish delivered?
Our customers receive whole salmon, head on, with gills and guts removed. A couple hours before shipping on air freight, fish are removed from ice and packed in wet-lock boxes with frozen gel packs to keep them cool until you pick them up. Fish are fresh, not frozen, and are generally delivered within 30 hours of being caught.
How do I pick up my fish?
This year we are asking our customers to pick up their orders from a designated site in Anchorage. We will contact you to give you a day’s notice before your fish will be available for pick up, so that you can prepare to eat, fillet, or package them soon after their arrival. Fish will generally be available for pick up between five and eight PM Monday-Saturday from late June through mid-July. Note, we are often at the mercy of changes to air freight schedules and load limits. Please be understanding and we'll stay in touch on changes outside of our control.
Salmon headed to Fairbanks are sent from Dillingham via Alaska Airlines. Often they boxes will overnight in Anchorage in AK Airlines chillers and then are flown to Fairbanks first thing the next morning. In 2021, we will charge Fairbanks customers an additional $.25 lb to cover freight charges from Dillingham.
How can I fillet and freezer-pack my fish?
Many of our customers take their fish to be filleted, smoked or vacuum packed by various small processors in Anchorage.
You can also process your fish yourself. There are many different ways in which it is done, including head on, head off, filleted and steaked. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute demonstrates one method to fillet salmon in this video. Patrick Hoogerhyde, owner of Bridge Seafoods shows one common method in this Anchorage Daily News video. We often "butterfly" our fillets for more even thickness when grilling.
Once you have filleted your fish, there are many methods for storing it. The best way to preserve quality is to vacuum pack fillets or steaks individually, but if you don’t have a vacuum packer, you can also store whole fish or fillets tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. For more information, check out this Cooperative Extension publication on Home Freezing of Fish.
How can I judge my salmon’s quality?
We deliver only the highest quality salmon. Some of the things you’ll notice:
Our family operates a setnet fishery, a form of gillnetting in which one end of our net is anchored on land while the other end is anchored offshore. Salmon swimming along the edge of Nushagak Bay get caught in the net, and we pick them out individually into our skiff, bleeding them to improve quality and immediately placing them in slush ice. After cleaning, fish are kept on ice until they are packaged for delivery.
Does the COVID-19 virus affect the safety of the fish?
The CDC, FDA, USDA and NOAA have not found that the COVID-19 virus can be spread through food. For more information, see this webpage from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute https://www.alaskaseafood.org/foodsafetycovid19/
In what form are the fish delivered?
Our customers receive whole salmon, head on, with gills and guts removed. A couple hours before shipping on air freight, fish are removed from ice and packed in wet-lock boxes with frozen gel packs to keep them cool until you pick them up. Fish are fresh, not frozen, and are generally delivered within 30 hours of being caught.
How do I pick up my fish?
This year we are asking our customers to pick up their orders from a designated site in Anchorage. We will contact you to give you a day’s notice before your fish will be available for pick up, so that you can prepare to eat, fillet, or package them soon after their arrival. Fish will generally be available for pick up between five and eight PM Monday-Saturday from late June through mid-July. Note, we are often at the mercy of changes to air freight schedules and load limits. Please be understanding and we'll stay in touch on changes outside of our control.
Salmon headed to Fairbanks are sent from Dillingham via Alaska Airlines. Often they boxes will overnight in Anchorage in AK Airlines chillers and then are flown to Fairbanks first thing the next morning. In 2021, we will charge Fairbanks customers an additional $.25 lb to cover freight charges from Dillingham.
How can I fillet and freezer-pack my fish?
Many of our customers take their fish to be filleted, smoked or vacuum packed by various small processors in Anchorage.
You can also process your fish yourself. There are many different ways in which it is done, including head on, head off, filleted and steaked. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute demonstrates one method to fillet salmon in this video. Patrick Hoogerhyde, owner of Bridge Seafoods shows one common method in this Anchorage Daily News video. We often "butterfly" our fillets for more even thickness when grilling.
Once you have filleted your fish, there are many methods for storing it. The best way to preserve quality is to vacuum pack fillets or steaks individually, but if you don’t have a vacuum packer, you can also store whole fish or fillets tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. For more information, check out this Cooperative Extension publication on Home Freezing of Fish.
How can I judge my salmon’s quality?
We deliver only the highest quality salmon. Some of the things you’ll notice:
- Eyes: bright and clear, not cloudy
- Skin: silvery and moist with no dry patches
- Body: the meat of the salmon is firm and rebounds when you press a finger into it