What would you pay for fresh sockeye or coho salmon

[pwa]

Your going to be Enjoying those ^^ that's were I go dip netting

pwa

 

[silverfinger]

So I go to the store this afternoon just planning on picking up a few things for dinner, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking "what would you pay for fresh sockeye or coho salmon"... Hmmm, "I wonder if the Copper River Sockeye is still about $15.00 per pound"? Mongo thinks to himself... "Don't even bother going to look" says Eggplant Man. In the end, I just had to go look and ended up coming home with these... :mmph:

Thanks a friggin lot colonel... :tsk:

9.00 bucks a pound, nice mongo!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk in stealth mode.

 

[tortaboy]

Al,

Were those really whole fish as the wrapper states? Ie, not fillets?

What is the % waste on a whole fish?

 

[colonel00]

You waste a lot depending on how you clean them. Also, if those are whole then 5lbs is pretty small. I assume they at least gutted them.

What I really enjoy is how all of these commercial outlets have fresh "Copper River Sockeyes". Maybe pwa can comment on this but I am pretty sure there is no commercial fishing on the river. Maybe I am wrong. I have seen the river and aside from dip netting, it is about impossible to catch sockeye in it. I am guessing they catch the salmon in the ocean before they get to the river and just call them that.

This is the Copper River. It is a fast flowing river with a milky opaqueness.

 

[Gore]

I'm pretty much with land arc on this one. I would do it at cost for a friend or not at all. With regard to fresh, wild salmon, it is one of the most fraudulent enterprises. I expect (and have read) that well over 50% of the stuff is farm raised. I picked up some a while back from a reputable store. It looked like what you have in your pics, but it tasted the same as farm raised to me. Yes, I have had the real thing, and can definitely tell the difference. You have the real thing. I'd pay a premium for that.

 

[colonel00]

Thanks Gore. I guess my main issue is figuring what "at cost" truly means. I am not putting in any extra effort to catch the fish. Usually we are only limited by what we want to pay to bring home. Depending on the airline, we can usually check a 50lb box for $50 so that is $1/lb. Is that fair to everyone including myself? Granted, there is the cost of the fish box and the dry ice and the bags and the cost to rent freezer space which could be a direct "cost". Not to mention the cost of gas for the boat/car or the lures/herring or the obligatory celebration beers which could be rolled into the "cost" of the fish.

Again, I should have asked the question differently. It should have been "If your buddy is going to Alaska and offers to bring you back some salmon, how much money would you give him for it and how much fish would you expect for that amount of money?"

Now, since I am already showing off, here are some more gratuitous photos.

Fresh Copper River Brewskies caught in our beer pot

Real Copper River Reds

Chillin'

Deadliest Catch

Yikes!

Sea Monster!

Rawr!

Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.

 

[Gore]

Yeah, dealing with money in these types of situations is always problematic. If they're good friends, I say forget it and just cough up some fish. If they're not such good friends, that is where it is tough. You could just calculate the cost of your entire trip and divide it by the 50lbs. that you bring back. :becky:

Of course, you could just give them some SPAMfish and tell them you pulled the wrong lever on your fishing rod.

 

[sandiegobbq]

Did you rent those crab traps?

 

[pwa]

You waste a lot depending on how you clean them. Also, if those are whole then 5lbs is pretty small. I assume they at least gutted them.

What I really enjoy is how all of these commercial outlets have fresh "Copper River Sockeyes". Maybe pwa can comment on this but I am pretty sure there is no commercial fishing on the river. Maybe I am wrong. I have seen the river and aside from dip netting, it is about impossible to catch sockeye in it. I am guessing they catch the salmon in the ocean before they get to the river and just call them that.

Copper river red fishery is out of Cordova they get them in the ocean before the river. Your right there is about Zero way to catch fish in there besides dip netting, and that's not exactly risk free. There are deaths every so often, last my little brother lost a close friend, got swept down the river. Fast current and near vertical walls.


Love the pics!

 

[colonel00]

Did you rent those crab traps?

Well, they are actually shrimp pots. We just happened to catch that little crab along with other oddities. We originally bought two of them from a gentleman in Palmer (Just outside of Anchorage). This was the first year we went and there was no place to rent them. However, when we left that first year we left our pots with the boat rental guy. Of course they got lost but the boat rental place , at least back in 2008, rented them. We did not use them on our last trip as we were pressed for time. It is a process to catch the shrimp and takes a good amount of time since you have to drive the boat out and drop the pots, let them soak for a half day minimum, then go pull them up. If you decide you want to go shrimping, I can show you some spots.

 

[colonel00]

Copper river red fishery is out of Cordova they get them in the ocean before the river. Your right there is about Zero way to catch fish in there besides dip netting, and that's not exactly risk free. There are deaths every so often, last my little brother lost a close friend, got swept down the river. Fast current and near vertical walls.


Love the pics!

Ah, so they are fishery fish. Perhaps bred from the same lines of the actually river fish but those fishery fish never even swim up the river since all they know is the fishery. Very similar to the Coho we catch in Valdez. They just swarm in the harbor as they have no place to go. Then the commercial fishermen come in after Labor Day and harvest them with amazing efficiency.

 

[Al Czervik]

Al,

Were those really whole fish as the wrapper states? Ie, not fillets?

What is the % waste on a whole fish?

They were gutted and the heads were off, but besides that they were whole... I processed the smaller one tonight and got about a pound and a half of tail fillets and about a three pound mid section which I smoked up on the Traeger. The mid section easily fed four of us with plenty leftover. Bright red, moist, juicy and full of flavor. I'm going to either smoke the fillets, or make salmon cakes out of them. I'll be processing the bigger one tomorrow and will try to snap some pics. Not sure what the waste is, but the pics should show.

I can't speak to exactly where these came from around the Copper River, but I can tell you they were fresh and not from a fish farm. There is nothing like the taste of Copper River sockeye and I look forward to it every year. If you ever get the chance to try it, don't pass it up... :thumb:

 

[Gore]

^^^ I'm just living on the wrong farkin' coast. :tsk:

 

[pwa]

There is nothing like the taste of Copper River sockeye and I look forward to it every year. If you ever get the chance to try it, don't pass it up... :thumb:

Reds are by far the best tasting Salmon IMHO Kings our a close second Silvers right up there IF you ever get a Chance try a Kenai Red you'll like it!!

pwa

 

[Al Czervik]

Here are the pics of the second one as it came out of the butcher paper, and then processed up...

Tortaboy wanted to know how much waste comes from a whole fish hence the pic on the left. As you can see, I cut part of the whole fish into two roasts, and the tail fillet pieces in the foreground are going for salmon patties that my daughter wants. :mrgreen:

 

[swamprb]

**WARNING! Salmon Virus!**

I guess if I want fresh salmon, I take a drive to the Rez and get a whole one for $20.

Great article in today's Seattle Times- Fresh or Farmed??

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018296338_viruslady27m.html