Salmon is fantastic, no matter how you prepare it. This versatile fish is robust enough for summer-time grilling, yet will not overpower subtle seasonings or cooking methods.

Combine its flavor and well-known health benefits with its environmental-friendliness, and wild-caught Alaska salmon is an excellent seafood choice. Try Alaska salmon poached with caviar cream sauce, or as burgers on the grill.

Also known as:

 There are five species of Alaska salmon. These are chinook salmon (also known as king, spring and black mouth salmon), coho salmon (also known as silver salmon), chum salmon (also known as dog and calico salmon), sockeye salmon (also known as red and blue back salmon) and pink salmon (also known as humpback and humpy salmon).

Availability:

 Frozen, year-round; fresh and frozen, summer and fall

Product forms:

 Fresh or frozen fillets, whole fish, steaks, smoked or canned. Also value-added products, such as burger patties.

Shopping tips:

 Rather than selecting your salmon based on color, which can vary by species, look for firm meat that does not appear dried out or mealy.

Substitutions:

 Wild-caught Alaska salmon can be substituted for farmed salmon or Arctic char.

Recipes:

Poached wild-caught Alaska salmon with caviar cream sauce

Grilled wild-caught Alaska salmon burgers with dill aioli
Salmon fishery: Alaska salmon are caught with gillnets, purse seines and trolling gear. More.

Conservation notes:

 Wild-caught Alaska salmon is an ocean-friendly seafood choice because the wild populations are healthy and the fishing gear used does not cause significant habitat destruction. More.
Last updated: April 2008

Salmon Fishery

Alaska salmon are caught with gillnets, purse seines and trolling gear.

Gillnets and purse seines are large nets that work by trapping or tangling fishes in the mesh or netting. Gillnets are typically set as a curtain of netting–either adrift or anchored to shore–that fishes might swim into. Purse seines are actually set around schools of fish by small fishing boats.

Trolling catches fishes on baited hooks at the end of fishing line that is pulled through the water by a boat. As soon as a fish is hooked, the fishermen reel it in. This means that unwanted species can be released almost immediately and often without serious injury.

Since none of this gear typically comes in contact with the seafloor, habitat destruction is not generally a problem with the Alaska salmon fishery.

Conservation Notes

Wild-caught Alaska salmon is an ocean-friendly seafood choice because the wild populations are healthy and the fishing gear used does not cause significant habitat destruction.

Alaska salmon is carefully managed and most Alaska salmon populations are healthy and able to withstand the pressure of commercial fishing.

Most commercial salmon fishing methods, such as seines, gillnets and trolling hook-and-line gear, have limited impacts on marine habitats. Because these fishing methods are able to specifically target salmon, the accidental bycatch of untargeted fish and other marine species is also very low.