Well it has been a while since I have written. The summers are truly busy for us. We catch fish (salmon and halibut), process, sell and ship fish all in an 8 week window of time.

It is August and the season is officially over. We ended earlier than expected. Alaska Fish & Game shut us down to ensure a healthier return of salmon to the Kenai River. This ensures our families future in commercial fishing.

Thank you to all who visited our plant this summer, stoped by our booth at the Anchorage Saturday & Sunday Market and those of you who continue to order the best wild salmon and halibut Alaska has to offer.

Nate

Tags: Wild Salmon

I know there is still a month before the Alaska commercial salmon season starts but we are getting close and I am getting very excited! I consider my self privileged to live in a state that has such an abundance of seafood, especially wild salmon.

This season brings new adventures for our family. There are lots of new projects on the horizon. We will be shooting a lot of video this summer and taking plenty of pictures.

We will be presenting our new smoked salmon packaging this summer, we are stepping up to the plate and committing to finding green packaging for all products. First we are going to start having degradable shopping bags at our retail store and the Saturday & Sunday Market in Anchorage.

If anyone out there knows of companies that provide Green Packaging let me know. We are always looking for solutions, so send people our way.

Thanks,

 Nate

Tags: green packaging, Smoked Salmon

We just completed our MSC audit and passed. For those of you who are not familiar with MSC it stands for the Marine Stewardship Council.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an independent, global, non-profit organization. In an attempt to reverse the continued decline in the world’s fisheries, the MSC is seeking to harness consumer purchasing power to generate change and promote environmentally responsible stewardship of the world’s most important renewable food source, seafood.

So first the Alaska Salmon and Halibut fishery has to be certified by MSC as a sound fishery that is well managed. This has been done.

Secondly, we (R&J Seafoods) have to pass an independent audit that shows we can trace our fish from the finished product back to where it came from (chain of custody). Any salmon or halibut that I ship out I have to be able to show where the fish came from. We have been able to do just that. Thus, we will be receiving our certification!

Once we receive our certification number we will post the MSC logo on our web site.

Thanks,

Nate

Tags: Marine Stewardship Council, MSC

I missed posting an update in March so I have a few things to touch on in this April posting.

We are currently having new packaging designed for our smoked salmon line of products.  We will have the packaging ready to go just in time for summer shoppers.  As we narrow down the design options I will post something for all to see.

The weather was warming up, snow melting (gone in most places) and the past 3 days we started getting more snow.  It looks like an early summer is not going to happen.

 I am very anxious for the summer to get here.  For now I will continue to hibernate.

We have completed selecting our crew for this summer season.  I am very excited as we have good, quality people coming to work for us in Alaska.  Some of the employees are returning from last season and some will be here for the first time.

Thanks,

Nate

Tags: Smoked Salmon

I received a good question from a customer and thought I would take this time to share it with all of you.  Here it is:

“Nate, Could you please tell me the difference between

1)Smoked Sockeye Salmon

2) Smoked Alaskan salmon

Thanks Bob”

This is a very good question Bob; let me digress for a moment.

Salmon can be broken into two groups here in the United States.Group one is Pacific salmon (west cost). That includes areas like, Washington, California and Alaska.Group two is Atlantic salmon (east cost). Atlantic salmon is also referred to as Farmed Salmon.

Next time you go to your local grocer look in the meat department at the salmon they offer. They are required to label the salmon as Atlantic salmon (Farmed) or Alaska salmon.  It is the law. They have to distinguish where the salmon came from.

Now looking at the Pacific salmon, more specifically the Alaska salmon, you have 5 species of salmon. You have King Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, Coho Salmon, Keta Salmon and Pink Salmon.

Now back to Bob’s labeling question. If you pick up product that says “Smoked Sockeye Salmon” then that is exactly what you have. If you pick up a product that is labeled “Smoked Alaskan Salmon” then you have 1 of the 5 species mentioned above.

So why would a company label product as “Alaskan” instead of being specific and saying “Sockeye” or “King”? There are 2 possible reasons for this. The first reason is a little shady. As a company I can buy pink salmon the cheapest out of all 5 species. So if I smoked the pink salmon and sold it for nearly the same price as Sockeye Salmon or King Salmon, then wow I just increased my profit margin and made a lot of money! I find that to be a little deceptive and do not operate that way. It’s not good business.

The second option is that a company uses the same package for multiple products. So let’s say I am selling alder Smoked Sockeye Salmon Fillets and alder Smoked King Salmon Fillets. I may choose to have the box printed as “Smoked Alaskan Salmon” so I can use it for either species. If this is the case my pricing will be reflective of the species inside.

So be alert when you are buying salmon. Look on the package to see what species you are buying and where the salmon is from.

Thanks,

Nate

Tags: Alaska Salmon, Smoked Salmon

The answer is simple, us.  We have five commercial fishing permits in our family (Randy, Ryan, Mindy, Amy and I).  This allows us to catch our own Alaska salmon. 

We also have a processing plant that is less than a minute from where we come to shore with our fish.  So we are able to process our own fish.  Our plant operates in the guidelines of a HACCP plan.  HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.   HACCP is a systematic, preventive approach to food safety that addresses physical, chemical and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection.  Our plant is inspected by DEC and/or FDA to ensure that we are in compliance.  Our processing plant is also kosher certified.  A rabbi comes up to Alaska during our season and inspects our plant to ensure that we are in compliance. 

After we catch and process our wild salmon we package and freeze the salmon to fill retail orders online and also to supply our wholesale customers (restaurants, retail stores, smokers, etc.).  So when you order from our website I (Nate) pull product out of the freezers and box the product for shipping.  FedEx then takes our product and delivers it to your door. 

Nate

Tags: Harvest, Wild Salmon

The New England Aquarium, located in Boston, Massachusetts, not only contains world-class exhibits, but also has Conservation and Research Departments that work towards protecting our world’s ocean resources. Within the Aquarium’s Conservation Department they have developed the Sustainable Fisheries Initiative. Its goal is to influence ocean conservation through seafood supply chains and by raising consumer awareness. To improve the environmental responsibility of seafood supply chains, the Aquarium works with some of the world’s largest seafood retailers and suppliers to encourage the sustainable development of farmed and wild-caught seafood resources. This involves offering companies advice on issues regarding environmentally responsible seafood and facilitating work with fishermen and fish farmers to make proactive changes in their practices to favor our aquatic environments.

The Aquarium uses their Celebrate Seafood program, which consists of the Fish of the Month and the Celebrate Seafood Dinner Series, to raise consumer awareness about environmentally responsible seafood. The Fish of the Month website (www.neaq.org/fotm) profiles ocean-friendly seafood options and offers information on how people can make smart seafood choices. The Fish of the Month selection is spotlighted in the Aquarium’s Harbor View Café as a lunch special every month. Environmentally responsible seafood options are also featured as part of the Aquarium’s Celebrate Seafood Dinner Series (www.neaq.org/celebrateseafood>), which provides guests with an evening experience that includes a three-course meal, information on seafood conservation, and a cooking demonstration. For the August 2007 Celebrate Seafood Dinner Series event the Aquarium highlighted Alaska salmon and Pacific halibut, and partnered with R&J Seafoods who donated fish for the event. R&J Seafoods has also helped the Aquarium’s cause to raise consumer awareness by including informative recipe and Celebrate Seafood cards with their orders since the event.

Peter Cooper 

Tags: Halibut, Ocean Conservation, Salmon, The New England Aquarium

I am sure many people make a commitment to eat healthy as their New Year’s resolution.  In fact according to USA.gov it is the number 1 resolution.  I must admit I am going to watch what I eat and try to drop 10 pounds this year and more importantly keep it off.  For all of those American’s who wish to do the same we are going to help you.  Wild salmon and halibut is a healthy food choice.  Just look at some of these benefits.

Alaska Wild Salmon contains Omega 3’s.  Omega-3 oils also exert additional protective effects against coronary heart disease by:

• decreasing blood lipids (cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins or LDL, and triglycerides)
• decreasing blood clotting factors in the vascular system
• increasing relaxation in larger arteries and other blood vessels
• decreasing inflammatory processes in blood vessels

Alaska Halibut is high in nutrients, low in overall calories, fat and sodium.

We want to make eating healthy affordable.  We are going to take 15% off any order you place through our web site.  The coupon will expire January 1st, 2009.  When you are checking out enter code: EatHealthy2008

Nate

Tags: Healthy Eating, Salmon

I just wanted to remind everyone that the cut off date to ship seafood from Alaska to your family is the 20th of December this year.  This is according to FedEx.  Get your orders in now. 

Nate

Tags: Fed Ex Shipping, Holiday Shipping

We are now offering canned salmon!  Our current product line consists of Silver Salmon and King Salmon.  Each can contains 7 oz. of Wild Alaskan Salmon.  Our experience has been that most canned salmon contains “less desirable quality fish” well not with our product.  We have taken the best quality and canned it.  Visit our online store to order yours!

Nate

Tags: Canned Salmon, New Products