Salmon & Sable

Hi Bart, I am launching on Kickstarter so I will only be preselling my fish there between March 10 and April 10. After that folks can preorder at my site. 1 Share is 10 lbs and that is the smallest amount that can be ordered. Its also the smallest species increment. For instance, you can get one Share (10 lbs) but if you do that the shipping is the most costly per pound and you can only get one species. If you get 2 Shares (20 lbs) you can get 2 species (or 20 lbs of one species) and the cost per pound of shipping drops 57%. At 6 Shares the shipping is free. Although some of the cost of shipping is build in to the per pound cost of the fish. A Share of sockeye is $205 on Kickstarter. There is one reward that is $45 off for 2 Shares of sockeye. The high cost of shipping smaller amounts is why my minimum has always been 20 lbs. This year I am offering 10 lbs. just in case someone really cant handle 20 lbs. On the Kickstarter page you will see the rewards on the right. The price you see there is the price of the reward, the price of the fish listed there. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform so it's not a store. Although some people treat it that way. When you select a reward, you will see the shipping price in the next window then you can enter a credit card. You're now a backer. If the campaign is successfully funded (which it is as of today) then your card will be charged when the campaign ends (April 10). You will get your seafood on the date specified in the reward (Mid-May for all orders of halibut, sablefish, and snapper) and late September for all mixed orders and salmon. If Kickstarter is an unappealing way to do this you can always preorder through my site after April 10. The only dates to keep in mind are the preorder deadlines: April 15 for halibut, sablefish, and snapper. June 15 for salmon. Preordering will be slightly different on my site, in that you will assemble your own order in 10 lb per species increments. Because of the way Kickstarter works, it made sense for me to assemble some rewards (mix and match species) I thought people would like. Preordering on my site will allow more freedom but regular prices. On Kickstarter there are some "Early Spawner Species" that are as much as $50 off. I hope this helps. Kickstarter (and crowdfunding in general) is a pretty neat concept. I really like backing projects on Kickstarter and following the journey of folks following their entrepreneurial passions. Here is the link again to my project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/salmonandsable/salmon-and-sable Traveler Yes, Zac formerly of Cowboy Cafe.

I have used and owned at least 10 vac sealers over the years. Here's what I understand about it: there are two main types--chamber sealers (professional, forces air out) and, what I call, suck sealers (suck the air out, usually consumer). As a general rule the chamber sealers are very expensive, heavy, large, and work really well. Smaller ones are still counter top. I have one that seals 2 10x14 bags at the same time from Italian company Mini Pac and it was $2500. It's an amazing machine, but the price is crazy. But, and here is the main reason for this post, I also have suck-style sealer from a company called Weston. Although it is the suck-style, its a great machine that's beyond consumer, I would call pro-sumer. It's their top of the line machine, whatever it's called. Mostly stainless, most parts are easily replaceable, etc. I have had one for 8 years and it works great. My chamber sealers are way better but the Weston was only $400-ish and the chamber sealers are often thousands. Because I liked them so much, I contacted Weston to see if I could set up a dealership (just to get their stuff at cost). I just use their gear myself and I don't sell / resell it. And here is the best part, the cost price is virtually the same as the Amazon price, and with the free shipping from Amazon, its actually cheaper to buy from Amazon that wholesale from Weston. Not sure how that happened... That's my 2 cents. Traveler

Hi guys, this is Traveler of Cold Country Salmon. I'm very flattered by some of the comments here. Thanks! It makes all the difference when you know all the work is appreciated. As you have probably noticed, my logo and business name aren't Cold Country Salmon anymore. This is my new business Salmon & Sable. Here's the story. I'm in the process of selling Cold Country Salmon to Zac Culbertson right now. He will own the business name and do the farmers markets. The part of the business that presold Shares of the catch and shipped them to your door has remained with me, as have customers and their personal info. Develop a relationship with Zac if you'd like to shop at the local markets, or if you like the fish I catch and fillet shipped to your door, then check out my new business Salmon & Sable. As it happens, I just launched my new business today on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. I launched here to get some new exposure and also to raise money for my new fillet space at my remote fishing site in Western Alaska. Between today and April 10, my Kickstarter page will be the only place to preorder: "Salmon & Sable: Alaskan Seafood Shares" by Traveler Terpening on kickstarter.com After April 10, folks can preorder like they always have, but at my new site: www.salmonandsable.com. But, If you'd like to preorder a Share of my catch this season, Kickstarter is the way to do it since there are some solid discounts on a few limited quantity seafood Shares. A big part of me branching off is that I wanted to focus entirely on preselling Shares of my catch. I also wanted to really get serious about closing the loop between net and plate. For me that means I catch it, I fillet it, I send it to you. End of story, no BS. Lots of folks claim to be doing this, few actually are. My kickstarter campaign in part is about raising money for my new fillet facility at my remote fishing site in Western, Alaska. Another key element of my new business is 100% transparency. I want anyone who is interested to be able to learn everything they want to about how their seafood gets to them. In that spirit, one of my Kickstarter rewards is the opportunity to visit my remote fishing site this summer to live in my cabin on the beach and learn to fish and fillet, then head home with a 25 lb. box of salmon you helped catch and fillet yourself. I'm doing some new things this year in regard to folks preordering Shares. The easiest way to learn about it is to visit my Kickstarter page and watch the video. Enjoy. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/salmonandsable/salmon-and-sable Traveler Salmon & Sable www.salmonandsable.com 907.299.1119

Hi guys. Sorry I didn't get to this earlier. Remind me to post something on freezing and "fresh-frozen." The higher fat (good for you fat!) a fish is, the better it freezes and the longer it last in the freezer. It will also thaw quickly. Sablefish is just about as fatty and rich as it gets so it freezes very fast and has a very long freezer life, as long as the vaccum bag is in tact. Some of us in Alaska are getting the fish from the water to the freezer so fast, that the quality is the same as fresh for 6-8 months. In a blind taste test I would stand by this every time. We are also handling them like princesses so there is really nothing better. Not all Alaskan seafood is done like this. I call my salmon and sablefish "beyond sushi grade." This sablefish was caught this last week and is lovely. It wil last in your freezer (as long as you take care of it and dont break any of the vacuum bags) for 8-10 months in prime condition. Sablefish has a particularly amazingly long prime freezer life. Salmon is a little shorter. Generally speaking, in Alaska we fish all summer, fill our freezer then try to eat it all before the following summer rolls around and new fish are caught. This is also about the life of the fish generally. Works out very well indeed. I just put on a salmon bake and party for a crossfit gym in Alexandria and we served sockeye salmon from last summer. It looked amazing and tasted incredible. People we're blown away and a small group of us ate 20 something lbs that night! If you were to preorder salmon from us (that we catch this summer and deliver to you at the end of August), it would last in your freezer in prime condition until the following spring/early summer. Hope this helps. I will try to post something on freezing, thawing and the rest of it here soon. I just talked to some very knowledgeable people and I have some ideas to share. Traveler

We found a little extra time so we have extended the sablefish order 1 day. Instead of June 4th, its now June 5th at midnight. Thanks for the orders everyone! Can't wait to meet you at the pickup! http://coldcountrysalmon.com/june-2013-sablefish-order Traveler

Hi, Yes, the official deadline was yesterday. I don't leave for Alaska until June 17th though so I would be happy to take order from DR until then. After that I am unplugged and neck deep in work and salmon!

**A note on the health benefits of salmon** This is just something interesting about salmon most people don't know, or haven't thought about. All wild Alaskan salmon are incredibly good for you. But, there are 5 species of wild salmon in Alaska and they all look different, return to the river to spawn at different times of the summer, eat different things and some live longer than others. This means that when the FDA or the Whole Foods guy in raingear says "wild Alaskan salmon is good for you," although they are right, this is only half the story and half the information. In my humble opinion, king/chinook salmon and sockeye salmon are the very best for you. Here's why: Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) – Sockeye salmon have naturally bright red firm flesh with a strong, wonderfully wild salmon flavor. They are second in healthy fats only to king salmon. In my opinion sockeye salmon are the healthiest fish to eat, even amongst the salmon species. The reason is that sockeye are the only salmon to eat almost exclusively plankton, specifically zooplankton. As you may know, plankton are the bottom of the food chain which makes them virtually incapable of bioaccumulating anything harmful into their tiny bodies. When a sockeye salmon eats plankton, it is not bioaccumulating any harmful toxins in the environment into its body. Additionally, sockeye salmon, like all salmon, are short-lived (3-6 years), which means they simply are not alive long enough to accumulate anything harmful into their bodies. This means that when you eat one, you, as the final step in this particular food chain, are also not bioaccumulating, which is very good for you indeed. Sockeye salmon are only caught during the summer months (mostly June and July) so if you see someone advertising "fresh, never frozen wild Alaska sockeye salmon" in November, well then you have something to call them out on. What we have found is that if salmon is treated right, filleted and blast frozen (frozen very quickly) right out of the water, it tastes all but fresh for 6-10 months in the freezer. Chinook/King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) – King salmon are the largest of the salmon and they are also the fattiest (good for you fats!).They also have a mild salmon flavor, making them popular with salmon aficionados and salmon newcomers alike. Wild king salmon have the distinction of being the only salmon (with rare exceptions) that is sometimes caught in very small quantities during the winter. Although 99% or more of the years catch in Alaska comes from the summer months, a few are caught commercially by rod and reel near the coast. These are called "troll-caught kings" or "winter kings," and they usually fetch a very high price because of their scarcity and because they are the only fresh salmon available during the winter. But, as I mentioned, high fat fish like salmon freeze very well (probably better than almost any other fish) and king salmon are the fattiest. This means a well-done fresh-frozen piece of king salmon is to die for.

Don and friends, I would be happy to offer a special/lower rate for DR members and lower it further the larger the order. For perspective on the volume/size, one "share" of sockeye salmon (22 lbs., which is the minimum order) will feed a couple who eat salmon once per week for 5.5 months (22 weeks). You will get your salmon at the end of August, which means your salmon will be gone as early as Christmas or New Year. I only mention it because folks often think 22 lbs is some staggering amount that won't fit in their car, when really its little larger than a large briefcase. A family of 4 or 5 would probably eat their salmon before Halloween. So, one full share (or more) for a couple or family is a great place to start. There are three types of "shares" we offer: >>"Fillet shares" – 22 lbs of fresh-frozen, individually vac bagged fillets (the full fillet), 1-2 lbs ea., usually 1.5lb ea. These feed 3-5 people each. Pin bone in. >>Portion shares" – 22 lbs of fresh-frozen, individually vac bagged portions (1/2 of a whole fillet), 3/4-1 lbs ea. These feed 2 people each. Pin bone in. >>"Boneless portion shares" – 22 lbs of fresh-frozen, individually vac bagged portions (portion of a whole fillet), 3/4 lb ea. These feed 1-2 people each. Pin bone out. **A note on pin-bone-in vs. pin-bone-out** Pin-bone-in salmon is generally a higher quality food. Because we are trying to produce "beyond sushi grade" salmon only, we are now encouraging folks to order pin-bone-in. However, we do still offer boneless portions for those who just can't tollerate bones. The reason pin-bone-in salmon is better in this case is this: If I catch a wild salmon and bring it into the boat flopping, fillet it and try to pull the pin bones, I can't. It's virtually impossible; it doesn't matter if your a master sushi chef. If you want those pin bones out before you vac bag and blast freeze that fillet, you have to leave the salmon whole and let it sit in slush ice for 2-3 days. Only then can you fillet and pull the pin bones. This is still an amazing quality of salmon, but, if you want the very best, you need to leave the pin bones in. This is not to say that when you thaw your fillet, you can't pull the pin bones then. You can and this works splendidly and only takes a minutes. Salmon pin bones are nothing to be afraid of either, Alaskans eat around them and if you swallow them all you'll be fine. These are not the super-boney white fish of your childhood. Pin bones are a small price to pay for the very best salmon you have ever had.

This is Traveler Terpening of Cold Country Salmon here in D.C. Summer has rolled around again and we're heading back to Alaska to fish for the summer. We're excited! (partly because it's getting really hot here and we want to go north!) Don Rockwell asked me to get involved with the forum so here I am, hoping to lend a hand with anything related to Alaskan seafood (specifically salmon). We have amassed quite a collection of Alaskan seafood recipes (mostly salmon) on our website. We set this up so it can be searched very easily. It's not just for our customers but for anyone who loves Alaskan seafood. For instance, if you want to cook some salmon but only have a stove and no outdoor grill, you can search for recipes that use an oven. Conversely, if you have a specific species of salmon, king salmon say, you can find recipes for that specific species (a lot of folks don't know we have 5 species of wild salmon in Alaska--each look and taste different). This database will continue to grow and also to become more technologically sophisticated as time goes on. You can find that here: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/blog-archive Our recipes page also has some good ones: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/recipes This is also the season when our customer preorder their share of this coming summer's catch. We have refined our process and are turning out some of the best salmon in Alaska. If you love salmon, preordering is a great way to do it--get it from the fisherman (me), get it cheaper than normal (minimum order) and get it right out of the water as soon as we get back from the fishing season. You can preorder sockeye salmon, king salmon, hot and cold smoked sockeye salmon, and sablefish. You can order online at our website or you can download the order sheet and mail or email it back to us. We take a 50% deposit up front and the balance when you pickup your salmon. Pickup is the last week of August, 2013 in the rear parking area of The Local Market on Broad St. in Falls Church, VA. You can see all the details here: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/buy-fish While the above "preorder" is for this summer and your salmon will be in the last week in August, we are also doing a "mini preorder" right now as a final farewell and to help folks stock their freezer one last time before we leave. This is for sablefish, which, if you haven't heard of it, is pure butter (with a tail). It truly is the most amazing white fish you have every had. Essentially all of the world's supply is caught in Alaska and Japan buys 95% of it--hence almost no one knowing what it is. What it is, is better than any other whitefish (including things like halibut and Chilean seabass), and, unlike the later, sablefish is sustainably caught. Sablefish is the only thing I sell that I dont catch myself, this is caught by a dear friend of mine in Southeast Alaska and it was caught this last week (the season is March - Nov). If you would like to partake, you can order and pay online before June 4th, 2013 at midnight and you will be able to pick up your sablefish Sat., June 8th in the rear lot of The Local Market from 8am-12pm or on Sun., June 9th at the Palisades Farmers Market from 9am-1pm. Order & pay here: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/june-2013-sablefish-order We are headed north to fish soon, so we will be offline for the summer. But when we return we hope to be more involved than we have been with this wonderful online community of food. Enjoy Traveler Terpening

This is Traveler of Cold Country Salmon. I am a commercial fisherman from Alaska. I fish for salmon in Alaska and direct market them here in the Northern Virginia and DC areas. I would like to connect with a local chef who is passionate about wild and sustainable seafood. I would like to put on presentations with a professional chef at a local restaurant or other venue involving demonstrations from myself, the fisherman (filleting, info about fishing and sustainability, etc), and a demonstration on how to prep and cook the salmon to perfection from the chef. This is just one idea and I would be delighted to discuss others for promoting our businesses, wild and sustainable seafood and great food in general. -- Traveler Terpening Cold Country Salmon www.coldcountrysalmon.com info@coldcountrysalmon.com 907.299.1119

I was thrilled to be invited to the picnic and I wanted to thank everyone for making me feel welcome, for your kind words, your attention during my talk, and, most importantly, for the wonderful food you shared with me! For me, great food becomes so much better with great community and I am so excited to be joining your wonderful community of food. I was only sorry my wife couldn't make it to the picnic. My wife and I are putting together an idea for the Christmas season––"Give the gift of Salmon." I would be interested to know what you all thought. The idea is this: someone could purchase a share (22 lbs) or half share (11 lbs) of red/sockeye or king/chinook salmon (we still have plenty of each) then we will either deliver or mail the salmon to whomever they would like with a card. The recipient would receive it attractively boxed as a gift with a card. I have talked to a number of folks who are thinking about an alternative meal this Christmas and I think a salmon fillet might just be the thing. Please keep in touch everyone.

Nicole and I just finished a smoked salmon class in Atlanta, GA that went very well and we are getting really excited about this weekend's class in Arlington, VA! Please join us at Quincy Park in N. Arlington, VA. at 3pm for a smoked salmon class/demonstration and potluck dinner. Please bring your favorite dessert, side dish, salad or drink. We will supply the grilled salmon prepared a number of different ways! This event will be free but we may have a donation jar to cover expenses. Nicole and I see this little event as an opportunity to show our appreciation to our customers and to speak with them further but also to have the opportunity to meet new customers and friends. So, please bring friends and other salmon and fine food lovers. While I hope to keep things casual, here is how I envision the afternoon progressing: -About 3:30pm we will start the smoked salmon demo. This first part of the class will be short and will simply cover the prep--how to brine and spice the salmon as well as how to operate a smoker and a little about the different wood types. -About 4:30pm we will put the salmon in the smoker and move on to an early dinner. -Hopefully the salmon will be ready to take out of the smoker about 5:30-6pm, about the time we are all stuffed from dinner. -We will take the salmon out of the smoker and folks can either sample it on the spot or take it home to taste later. In this class you will learn my own tried and true and extremely simple and quick recipe for making your own smoked salmon at home. In other news, I am now a retailer of Smokin' Tex smokers so if anyone is interested in getting their own smoker, I will be happy to show you how to make your own free smoker from a cardboard box or you can place and order for a Smokin' Tex smoker from me there at the class. Here is a google map showing precisely where to meet on Sat. Oct. 15th. This is the north side of Quincy Park in North Arlignton, VA. http://maps.google.com/maps?msid=218137836524240271071.0004aee02254c675f64e0&msa=0&ll=38.885444,-77.106145&spn=0.001418,0.002824&t=f&z=19&vpsrc=6&ecpose=38.88500144,-77.10614473,273.46,0.006,14.387,0 PLEASE RSVP VIA EMAIL WITH THE DISH YOU WOULD LIKE TO BRING AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL BE IN YOUR PARTY. Space will be limited to about 30. See you there!

We are thrilled to be attending this year––our first year at this event! We hope to put on a smoked salmon clinic at this year's picnic. Just a short talk on how to prep then smoke wild Alaskan salmon. We will bring salmon for BBQ and for smoking. See you all soon,

Hello all, Right after I discovered this forum this last spring, I left for Alaska to fish all summer. I had time for a few short posts before leaving. It was wonderful to meet many of you and your advise and ideas, in many cases, proved very helpful to our new business selling our salmon here in the DC and NoVA areas. So, thank you. I thought I would write in again to mention that our salmon is en route now and our first pick up will be Sep. 16th, 17th, 18th. We are still deciding on the exact location but it will be somewhere in N. Arlington. In addition to selling full shares (about 22 pounds) we are also offering half shares of 10 or 11 pounds. We are also thrilled to have king/chinook salmon in addition to sockeye/red salmon. While our preorder prices are no longer available, when the middle of the month rolls around we will be able to deliver salmon immediately--no more waiting. If you would like to purchase salmon you can call, email or fill out the order form and mail it in. Salmon will be available for pickup the following week at a N. Arlington location. In some cases I can also deliver it myself. Additionally, as mentioned in a previous post, I will be putting on classes on how to smoke salmon. I am still working out the details but these will be relaxed affairs in local parks. We may even have a BBQ with grilled salmon too. I want these classes to be a lot of fun and casual where we can get together and learn how to prepare, smoke and serve salmon. These classes will be free or donation and will start in the last two weeks of Sep and run a few times a month through the fall and winter.

I will be offering one or more free classes on how to smoke wild Alaska Salmon this fall and winter in the DC and NoVa areas. These classes will show participants how to prepare, smoke then vacuum seal and freeze their own salmon. This is something I have done with my family in Alaska since I was a boy and I am really excited to share my technique with folks in my new winter home of North Arlington, VA. Nothing excites me more than procuring my own food then eating it fresh or putting it up for the winter. Learning to smoke, vacuum seal and freeze fish is a lot of fun and a valuable skill. Its very rewarding to present smoked salmon at a party that you smoked yourself! For those of you who don't know my wife and I, we are Traveler Terpening and Nicole Ziegler. We are commercial fishermen from Alaska who fish for salmon in remote Western Alaska--on the Ugashik River to be specific. Although I have been a commercial fisherman since I was a boy, we only just started direct marketing our salmon to the public this summer. Our business is called Cold Country Salmon. We will be back from our fishing season toward the end of August and the first salmon smoking class will be held in the first week of September. Other classes will follow and will be posted to my website blog, Twitter and Facebook. Participants do not need to bring anything other than a smile and maybe a notebook to take notes in. I will provide all materials including wild Alaskan salmon, a smoker, a vacuum sealer, etc. I will also provide a printed handout detailing the process. Additionally, each participant will be able to sample my own smoked salmon. As I do not have a retail space for my business, I am currently looking for a suitable venue for this class. While I have a number of locations in mind, I would like to hear from folks if they have just the right place in mind. I am open to presenting this class for a private group at someone's house as well. As these classes are free to anyone, I would like to keep the class size small (10 or less participants per class) and the atmosphere fun and casual. If you are interested in attending this class or have any ideas about a venue, I would very much like to hear from you! Until the end of August, email is the best way to reach me.

If you haven't heard of us yet, we (my wife and I) run Cold Country Salmon here in the NoVA and DC area. We are commercial fishermen from Alaska and fish there all summer then return to the DC area in the fall to sell our catch. Anyway, we are really excited to be blogging from fish camp this year on our fishing season and we wanted to let everyone know to follow us if they are interested. These updates will come in the form of blog posts on our website as well as Twitter and Facebook posts. We will detail every aspect of the fishing season from preseason work (mending nets, work around the homestead, building projects (we are making a new sauna), etc) to the fast and furious mid-season fishing action (July 5-15) and the slowdown toward the end of July. I hope this will be a good opportunity for us to reflect on our days and season and to keep everyone up to date on the daily doings on of a commercial fishing camp in remote Western Alaska. Our fish camp postings will start May 10 and will continue through July 25 or 30 this summer. We would love to see your comments and hear your thoughts and questions. We are also accepting preorders through this spring and summer for the fish we will bring back this fall. Our first pick ups will probably be Sep. 1, 2011. Thank you all for a great forum and community of producers and eaters! Cold Country Salmon Blog Cold Country Salmon Twitter Cold Country Salmon Facebook

Hello all and thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts. I am doing some research on some of those suggestions now and will try to visit some of the markets this weekend. My goal in participating in farmer's markets is to have to the opportunity to talk to people about what we do and to get the word out about our salmon. This is such a new business that we are in the "planting the seeds" phase. I think word of mouth will be good for us. We are planning a free salmon bake here in the DC area for early May which should be a lot of fun. In terms of local fish markets, interacting with folks is important to me and I would like to keep my business between the fisherman and the consumer. This is the heart of my co-op, fisherman direct, marketing plan. Plus I really like talking about what we do and learning about and making friends with my customers. I saw that issue of Washingtonian from May about food. I also couldn't help but notice there was no good, wild salmon source mentioned. I have been trying to contact them for a few weeks now but no reply. It's Saturday morning, I'm off to the farmer's markets!

I appreciate your enthusiasm about my salmon! I would be happy to talk with you in more detail about your freezer space, your salmon needs and in general about our salmon and Alaska. 22 pounds of salmon is not as large as you might think. Fillet weights vary, but assuming sizes between 1.75-3 or even 4 pounds per fillet, that's between 6 and 12 filletsor it can be portions if you prefer. But of course you can also find one friend who also loves Wild Alaskan salmon and share the 22 pounds with; each taking home 3-6 fillets (11 pounds). As I'm sure you know, salmon fillets or portions are a magical shape that seem to fit everywhere even in an already full freezer. This last fall I carried one box of salmon on the plane with me (check on actually) and all 40 pounds of it neatly fit in a standard side by side freezer/fridge that was ostensibly already full. In some cases we can pair customers who want smaller amounts with each other. When customers pick up their salmon, they simply have to meet up on site and divide the amount. Hope this helps. Please email or call anytime to order or ask questions.

Hello, Each summer I head to Alaska to fish, returning in the fall with my catch filleted, flash frozen and vacuum sealed. This amazing process keeps salmon all but right-out-of-the-water fresh for 6 months or more. My salmon comes in portions or in whole fillets. Portion sizes are generally 8oz. I generally do not sell whole (headed and gutted) salmon though it can be arranged. Some folks, when entertaining, like to start with a lovely whole 12 pound Ugashik River sockeye and fillet it themselves. It can be a fun performance. I also sometimes offer the service of doing this myself (filleting is a practiced art) and share stories about commercial fishing and details about sustainability, salmon life history, Alaska, etc. I encourage all my customers to buy salmon co-op style where you get together with your friend, family and neighbors and share an order of salmon. This allows you to get a great price and, ideally, builds great community around great food. These are my prices: *One Shares (22.05 lbs. (10 kg.)) $13.99/lb. *Two Shares or more (44.10 lbs. (20 Kg.)) $12.99/lb. For perspective, 22 pounds of salmon does not take up as much space in your freezer as one might think. With few exceptions, this amount of salmon takes up less than 25% of a standard top freezer, allowing plenty of room for your other frozen foods. Those who eat a lot of fish and/or have larger families often have chest freezers that would accommodate an order of 44 pounds or more. Growing up in Alaska, my family and I always filled our freezer with wild fish and game for the long, dark winter. This was before the days of flash-freezing and vacuum sealing (or maybe we just didn't know about it!) so we froze our salmon whole (headed and gutted). Although these tasted well enough for a month or two, freezer burn set in quickly and before long we would have to smoke or can (jar) the rest. When we discovered flash freezing and vacuum sealing, it changed our lives! Now I do all my fish this way and they taste amazing for 6 or more months. Amazing.

I am not wise, but I am a commercial fisherman in Alaska. I winter here in the DC area. I am also a lifelong environmental activist. I count myself among the small but increasingly well known group of "environmental commercial fisherman"––an oxymoron to some. Again, I am not wise, but I can speak to my own long experience of reconciling the impacts of people on nature with commercial fishing. I have been thinking about this for more than half my life. Before i go on, it must be said that there is no answer to this question. All one can do is learn as much as they can about the issues, try to be filled with empathy for people and the natural world at all times and above all, never allow yourself to be debilitated by fear or sorrow. It also must be remembered that, like all creatures (plants and fungi included), people need to eat. The backbone and the beauty of the synergistic green force we call nature is life feeding on life. Various orthodoxies and other influences have corrupted our innate appreciateion for this fact. Edward O. Wilson calls it "Biophilia"––the natural bond and affinity all living things have for one another. I recommend everyone read his book entitled Biophilia. The word "feeding" itself has a violent connotation for many of us because it can mean killing. Killing, as a general principle, has become so horrifying to many of us because, some think, of its association with war and all the dehumanizing things we do to each other. Both hunting (which conceptually includes fishing and gathering) can involve guns and many people find guns terrifying and emblematic of all that is wrong with humanity. Author Paul Shepard writes that only hunters (I would expend this to all omnivorious human eaters) "confronts this question with full human dignity, beginning with an affirmation of his ecology rather than its denial." Spanish philosopher José Ortega Y Gasset wrote that the best way to honor some animals in certain circumstances is to eat them. But of course, you can also honor an animal in another situation by not eating it. For me, part of being human is making these choices and never excluding any options. Earlier, I said that one needs to be well informed about the issues. This is true, but our intake of media must also be mitigated and balanced with time actually in nature. I have always found that I learn the most when I in nature rather than simply reading about it. To me, "in nature" means appreciating it by existing in it, eating it, and ultimately, allowing it to eat me. This raises another point that is getting a little closer to the original topic of this thread. I am happy in nature. I believe this is because I am able to express my human distinctiveness there. I am only truly "human" in that context. My "humanness" and "happiness" are one and the same. This brings me to the argument of animal rights as a reason to be vegetarian. I do not regard my own happiness any differently than I regard the happiness of a creature. Whether I intent to eat it or no, a creature is happy when it was able to spend its life doing that which nature supremely equipped it to do, to paraphrase author Michael Pollan. If any animal was able to live this way, then I would consider it a "happy" creature and to use it to fuel my own life is not at all objectionable. José Ortega Y Gasset would probably say that we are both honored in that archetypal and sacred transaction of energy. Obviously I object to the industrialized food system because we, as consumers, are lacking nearly every piece of information about our food when we eat from the trough of that system. We do not know what we can eat in good conscience and the system fights tooth and nail against the culture of food I think our country desperately needs. For me, "sustainability" is a holistic approach that encompasses the ability of the land to perpetually produce food and remain in good health FOREVER, but also an intimate relationship between eater and producer. Aldo Leopold’s ‘land ethic’ is probably the best model yet for living harmoniously with the natural world. Leopold’s land ethic enlarges our ethical sphere to include “soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land." "This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helter-skelter down river. Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these ‘resources,’ but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural state. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such." In my own life, I have seen commercial fishing embody the evil environmental reactionaries believe it to be. But I have also seen commercial fisherman and those who make their living off the sea, behave with more honor and integrity than I have seen nearly anywhere else. The best of us fishermen realize the obvious fact that without fish, there is not fishing, which means there is no food and there is no money. These fishermen protect their fisheries with all the love of a parent concerned for the welfare of their children. In fact, fishermen are often looking out for their children when they fish responsibly and insure the longevity of their fishery. In Alaska anyway, fisherman mostly work hand in hand with the Alaska Dep. of Fish and Game to monitor fisheries and manage them with science. Laws are carefully put in place and enforced vigorously. With proper management and without the polluting influence of money, all fisheries could be managed for perpetual sustainability. Most governments lack the will and foresight. I fish in Bristol Bay which today is considered one of the best managed fisheries on earth (although this was not always the case). In order to catch so many fish from a wild run, biologists have done some work to "organize" the natural system and make it more efficient. In nature everything is cyclical––populations grow and crash, over and over add infinitum. In some salmon runs there is some "waste" due to a huge number of fish flooding into a river and uncovering the egg nests (called redds) of other salmon. This is the result of too many salmon in the river. Although this is the natural order of things and obviously results in a healthy population over a long period of time, another technique that also results in a healthy population of salmon and provides a few extras for people is to allow fishermen to catch those extra salmon that are uncovering the redds and "wasting" the eggs of other salmon. I use the word "waste" in quotation marks because there is no true waste in nature. By catching a few salmon here and there through the course of the summer's run, fisherman "skim" some off the top that were nature's extras anyway. But of course there are no free meals in nature and fishing does have some impact, just as ALL eating by ANY living thing ANYWHERE has some impact. The goal in any fishery is to minimize this impact as much as possible just as an animal's instincts direct it to no take too much and if it does, its species pays the price. I am confident that the method employed in my fishery in Alaska honors both the needs of salmon, the broader ecosystem as well as fisherman and people around the world who enjoy salmon. I have no doubt that my fishery is truly sustainable. For me, there is balance in this system. But many fisheries do not have this balance and the long term viability of the fishery is far from certain. Some fishermen fish with money signs in their eye and nothing more, it is a job and not a lifestyle, it is right and not a privilege. So, back to the original 64,000 dollar question: should we be eating fish? Yes, but only if you are getting it from the right place. Empower yourself by learning everything you can about the seafood you like and be willing to give up seafood that does not meet your personal definition of "sustainable." I stopped eating scallops except those collected by free divers not because I necessarily believe scallop trawling to be inherently evil, but because I have questions about it and I am unsure of the bycatch and sustainability of the fishery. I am also unsure of the sustainability of the Alaskan halibut fishery but this does not mean it is, in fact, unsustainable. I just need to learn more about it. Of all the commercial fisheries I have been involved in, when I went to become my own boss, I chose the Ugashik River in Bristol Bay because the salmon are entirely wild (no hatcheries), I trust the run is healthy and super-sustainable and I have almost no bycatch and essentially zero mortality within that extremely small amount of bycatch. I feel really good about the salmon I catch and I want people who eat my salmon to know all about the process so they can feel good about their meal too. I am not a fisheries biologist so if anyone more knowledgeable than myself would like to correct me on salmon sustainability, I would welcome the information.

Greetings, I am a commercial fisherman from Alaska and am new to the DC area. Through my business Cold Country Salmon I sell my catch direct to the public. I would like to participate in some DC area farmers markets (including Baltimore and other cities within a few hours). However, since I fish in Alaska all summer and my salmon is best for 6-8 months following the summer, I will mostly be selling through the fall and winter. My concern is that most markets seem to happen on Sat and Sun and I want to make the most of those two days. I am looking for the largest and best attended farmers markets (one for sat and one for sun) where I can sell my salmon and educate the public about my product, Alaska and sustainable fisheries in general––all the things I am passionate about! If anyone has any suggestions about which markets would allow me to make the most of my weekends, I would very much appreciate it. I am aware of the Baltimore Farmer's Market and Bazaar (market under 83) which looks like a wonderful and well attended market. Does anyone know anything about this market? Thank you so much for you help,

I am a commercial fisherman from Alaska wintering here in the DC area. I also sell my catch directly to the public through my business Cold Country Salmon. Having mailed fish of all kinds all over the place over the last 20 years, I can say that buying fish locally is almost always cheaper than mail order––and the quality will be better if you do your homework and buy from the right place. Fresh or fresh frozen fish needs to be shipped via courier overnight (or 2 day) which regularly costs the same or more than the fish itself. There are also the expenses of dry ice, foam-lined boxes and sometimes waxed boxes. Conversely, you can often buy fish from local purveyors who are the fishermen themselves and bring their catch in fresh frozen in large lots and store it to then resell locally. Because the seafood is moved in volumes of 1000 or more pounds, the cost to the purveyor (and ultimately the customer) for transportation is 90% less or more. I noticed that www.vitalchoice.com sells three (3) wild Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets (4.5 pounds total) for $96––$3 more gets you free shipping. For the $99 order, this is $22 per pound shipped. Whether that free "standard" shipping is fast enough to keep the salmon frozen is another story. While this could be an amazing product, the customer is paying far more than market price for salmon they really know nothing about, bought from a purveyor they also know little or nothing about. Who shipped it? Who processed it? Who caught it? Where was it stored and for how long? Sometimes questions as basic "is this really sockeye salmon and not chum or coho?" or even, "is it really wild?" are questions not asked without warrant. By comparison, the fish I, and other fishermen like me, sell, is 25% less expensive or more, of equal or better quality, and the customer can learn every detail of the salmon by simply asking the fishermen, me. These are questions I get from my customers and love answering: How is the fishery managed and what makes it sustainable? What is the environment like where these fish were caught? How do you catch your fish? What are the differences between the five species of Alaska salmon? How should I thaw, prepare and cook the salmon? And anything else you may want to know about the food you put in you and your family's bodies. While it is is ideal to buy as much locally produced food as possible, certain foods some people deem a necessity of life (salmon for myself ) are not available from local waters. Some folks also have concerns about the quality of their local waters and the seafood produced from them. In my opinion, and this may be biased, buying direct from the fisherman is the only way to know every detail about your fish. Middlemen of any kind are never savvy to all the details of where fish come from, caught, processed; sometimes even simple things like, was it caught sustainably, what waters is it from, and what method was used to catch it? For example, A New York Times article by Marian Burros found that six of the eight stores selling salmon as "wild Alaskan salmon" were in fact selling inferior farm raised salmon. While none of the store owners took responsibility, some claimed ignorance saying their supplier misled them while others admitted that they just didn't know where the problem was. In short, my personal belief is that seafood lovers (and foodies of all persuasions) should buy local or at least locally sold and always from the producer him or herself. If you love tuna (me too!), perhaps look for a fisherman involved in that fishery who brings fish into the area him or herself. If you love lobster (who doesn't?), look to fishermen who catch the critter and bring it down themselves, if your looking for salmon, I love to talk about Alaska, seafood, sustainability and specifically, salmon!

I winter here in the DC area but am from Alaska and am a commercial fisherman there. I am also a writer and recently completed a travel guidebook to the state for UK travel guide publisher, Bradt Travel Guides. Although things change relatively quickly and I cannot always recall everything on the spot, I am reasonably knowledgeable about much of Alaska. While the eating in most very small villages is pretty dismal, there are many parts of the state absolutely full of wonderful eateries on par with many cities in the lower 48. Some examples of towns with great food are Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, sitka, Skagway and Juneau. Towns like Ketchikan, Seward, Talkeetna and other others have some decent options with a few gems here and there. But of course, it all depends on what you like. If you are looking for deep fired halibut with a side of fires, then you will be happy almost anywhere in Alaska. But if you are thinking something more long the lines of lightly seared scallops, side stripe shrimp straight out of the water, poached black cod, grilled white king salmon or even a pear and gorgonzola wood fired pizza, then you will have to look around a little more. But they are there and not hard to find if you know where to look. Foodies visiting Alaska would do well to plan their trip around those towns I have mentioned with great food. For the most part, these are also stunningly beautiful places as well. I rarely recommend a travel guidebook because I do not trust the authors. But, if you find an author you trust, a travel guide is invaluable. In regard to the specific question, Anchorage is not the capitol but is home to just under half of the state's 698,000 people. Anchorage has LOTS of eateries from cheap hole in the wall places to high end seafood places to pizza pubs to ethnic food of every variety. The downtown area of Anchorage is lovely mid-summer with flowers and activities everywhere and a good selection of scenic trails. While there are some good eateries here, most are tourist oriented and so are spendy and no generally planning on repeat customers... if you know what I mean. But there are some gems. Although not quintessentially Alaskan in any way, Snow City Cafe right downtown is a hip and super popular breakfast and lunch spot. The best eateries in Anchorage are in the outerlying areas and for the most part, require a car to reach. Most of Anchorage outside the downtown area is not very attractive, but don't let this dissuade you. There are many fantastic places to eat in run down strip malls. Kenai/Soldotna has a few decent choices but attracts sport fisherman and oil workers more than foodie tourists, if I can generalize a little. Homer is where I am from and is known for its wonderful art scene, food and outdoor opportunities. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of places not to write home about. But locals do take food seriously and places like Finn's Pizza, Wasabi's, Fat Olive's (sometimes not as good as it used to be), Cups Cafe, Mermaid Cafe, etc serve up some good meals. In Seward, The Smoke Shack is an amazing smoked BBQ place in an old train car (located in the area known as the "Train Wreck.") The eccentric owners take their meat seriously and are fun to get to know. This place might be horrifying to vegetarians since I don't thingk there is anything green on the menu. The Exit Glacier Salmon Bake is outside down at the turnoff to Exit Glacier. This place is drenched in character and the food is not fancy but hardy and very good for what it is. Think big chunks of meat, fish and mugs of brew. Chinook's and Ray's epitomize tourist trap Alaska with great waterfront locations, high prices and mediocre food. Seward has lots of great cafes, some serving food and showing local art. Juneau has wonderful food and cultural opportunities. The Juneau Jazz Festival features evening whale watching boat cruises with live music and wonderful food. Seriously, was a better idea ever had? I went on one a few summers ago ans found the trifecta of marine mammals, fantastic local food and live music absolutely intoxicating. Zephyr is a dress-up kind of place right downtown and very good. There are also many smaller places like Pel Meni's, a funky but incredibly cool (in that Eastern European kind of way) Russian place. Your choices are limited to meat or veg pel meni so no need to waste time with a menu. The LP collection is impressive and the food is, well, perfectly Russian and very filling. The eternally popular Hanger on the Wharf is nothing special as far as food is concerned. But if you want to see local singles dressed up in Extra Tuffs trying to hook up or sip a local beer and watch float planes and cruise ships go about their way, this is the place. Of course Juneau is also home to the Alaska Brewing Company and they offer tours and samples at their facility just outside town. There are many other eateries to mention but I am running short on time at the moment. Skagway has the Stowaway Cafe which is on the water and very good. The Bistro at the Skagway Inn does cooking classes and grow much of their own food. In Sitka, Ludwig's Bistro is a must! This is just a sample but of course there are many more places worth mentioning. Although I would consider myself a bit of a food connoisseur, I also have come to appreciate the culture of food in every place, no matter how miserable it may seem at first. For instance, when visiting Sand Point, Alaska (population 950), one must order a pizza or burger at the bar and watch as the barkeep unabashedly removes a tiny frozen and boxed item from the freezer, removes the packaging and chucks it in the microwave. What's not burned is rubbery, and what's not rubbery is still frozen and the whole thing is extortionately priced. In Wrangell, try Diamond C Restaurant for terrible food served by surly staff at a glacial pace. But, traveling in remote Alaska and elsewhere off the beaten path around the world, I have come to see that these experiences are just as important, if not more so, than the best local seafood served in a plush atmosphere by dotting staff. Both are unique cultures of food and worth trying, if only once. But, of course, the best situation is when you run across wonderful local food served by friendly and knowledgeable people for a reasonably price. I mentioned some of these above. However, in Alaska the cost of eating out is generally very high. For this reason I recommend the following above all else: My favorite meal is a fresh king salmon (or other fish) caught by me and grilled on the beach. Head to the farmers market for some locally grown greens and your all set for a truly Alaskan meal––caught, cooked and eaten by you fresh from the land. My second favorite option is to buy some local seafood fresh from the fishermen or a local fish market and cook it myself with local greens. Side stripe shrimp, king salmon, sockeye salmon, black cod (sablefish), rock fish, mussels and scallops are some of my favorites. Beach greens grow at the high tide line of most Alaskan beaches and the fresh bright green rosettes at the top of each stock make a wonderful salad. Toss some wonderful lovage (like strong parsley) on top and you have a free salad a la nature. This book is one of the best for wild edible plants in Alaska. The author is a wonderful woman from my home town, Homer, Alaska. This is the pocket version. Many folks tend to drown Alaska's wonderful seafoods in butter or thick sauces or deep fry it. First try cooking it almost plain, then add flavors if it doesnt work for you. Another tendency is to seek out fish with little flavor, like halibut. Don't get me wrong, I like halibut, but there are few ways halibut can be prepared that match grilled rock fish with a light marinade, or side stripe shrimp all by themselves, or scallops cooked in a little white wine and a touch of lemon, or mussels or steamer clams cooked in wine with a touch of pesto and some nice French bread, or grilled salmon with a hint of soy sauce and sugar. Black cod (not actually a cod but a sablefish) is a little know fish with amazing texture and wonderful natural flavor. I would be happy to chat further if anyone has any specific questions.

Greetings DC foodies, My wife and I (Traveler Terpening and Nicole Ziegler) are commercial fisherfolks from Alaska and are new to the area. We now spend our winters here in the DC area (we live in Arlington, VA) and love the vibrant culture of food we have found here! Although locals seem to take their food seriously, there is no fisherman direct wild Alaska salmon connection here that I have found. We are thrilled to be here and to introduce this vibrant area to our wonderful sustainable, healthy and wild Alaskan salmon. We fish for king (chinook) and red (sockeye) salmon on the Ugashik River in Western Alaska's Bristol Bay. This is a pristine and very remote area with totally wild salmon that spend their lives in the Bering sea and North Pacific. We love fishing were we do. Far from the fray of other Bristol Bay fisheries, we live and fish in the wilderness. The smoking, glacier enshrouded spine of the volcanic Aleutian Range stretches from horizon to horizon and bear and wolves walk the beach in front of our cabin. During the summer, the tundra is ablaze in wind-stunted wild flowers. Although we have been fisherfolks most of our lives, we have recently started offering our salmon directly to the public. Over the years, we have been excited to see folks start to take sustainable, healthy and producer direct food more seriously. It goes without saying that buying sustainable and healthy food it better for people and the planet, but we think buying direct from the producer is just as important. We love to learn all about where our food is coming from, not just for the personal empowerment it provides but also because of the wonderful stories we hear and the friendships we make. We love sharing our experiences and stories with folks and telling them all about how we catch salmon in the Alaskan wilderness. We maintain a blog throughout the year so our friends, family and customers can follow our fishing season and other news. Most salmon are caught in Alaska during the summer. We fish from June through July. Our salmon are flash frozen and vacuum sealed so they will keep with almost no loss of texture or flavor for 6-8 months. We then start selling starting September 1. Right now we are accepting preorders which customers will pick up September 1, 2011. Since we believe great food and great community go hand in hand, we encourage our customers to come together with their friends, family and neighbors to place larger orders. This saves them money and hopefully brings their community closer together. We sell our salmon 10 kg lots (22.05 lbs), with price breaks every 20 kg, 30 kg, 40 kg and so on. Customers should not be afraid of 10 kg of wild Alaskan salmon. This amount will last for a few months in many families and takes up less than 25% of most top freezers, leaving room for all your other frozen foods. For those who do want a smaller amount for a week or so, they can come together with a friend or two and share 10 kgs. I am also somewhat of an expert on Alaska, having just written a travel guide to the state for UK travel guide publisher, Bradt Travel Guides. I have also been a commercial fisherman most my life. I enjoy sharing stories about Alaska and fishing with the public in the form of presentations (slide talk, lectures, etc). We look forward to being involved in the community here and sharing our wonderful salmon. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/coldcntrySALMON Follow our blog: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/?page_id=618