WHAT SETS OUR SALMON APART?
Flavor in salmon is directly related to how much fat it has. When a salmon leaves the ocean to return to its natal stream, it stops eating and must rely on stored fat for the remainder of its life as it makes its journey home. The farther the salmon must travel to spawn, and the mightier its river of origin, the more fat it will have genetically developed and stored so it can make its most important life sustaining journey home. What makes quality salmon so tasty? The fat!
THE FATTEST, MOST FLAVORFUL SOCKEYE IN THE WORLD!
The Fraser River has hundreds of tributaries where salmon spawn, some over a thousand miles from the Straits of Juan de Fuca, where the fish stop eating. It is a journey through some of the most turbulent and difficult waters of any Alaskan, Canadian or Northwest river system. In comparison, the Copper River in Cordova, Alaska is about 350 miles long.
A salmon there needs only a third of the fat required by a Fraser River salmon. Nature prepares these amazing fish for a journey home that is second to none in requirements for stored energy. We harvest our Fraser River salmon long before they enter the river, so they still have all their stored energy in the form of omega 3 rich fat. Which is great for your hair and skin and keeps our salmon full of flavor. Omega 3 gives our fish the texture, flavor and the health benefit that few other salmon can offer.
Superior quality wild salmon being moved to holding tank
Lummi Island Wild salmon being resting in holding tank
…it’s the most eco-friendly way to fish. All by-catch is released by hand and it yields far superior tasting fish.
– SUNSET MAGAZINE –
WHY CHOOSE LUMMI ISLAND WILD?
We start with an amazing salmon, as do all who harvest Fraser River fish, but that is where the similarity ends. Reefnet fishing allows us to live bleed each fish, one at a time, and then place it into an insulated tote filled with slush ice. The bleeding method ensures two things. First, the bitterness caused by lactic acid, which builds up in the muscle tissues when a fish struggles, dissipates, since the salmon is allowed to relax both before and after bleeding.
Second, the blood is not there to cause a metallic, often slightly bitter and rancid flavor associated with the term “fishy.” This clean flavor is noticeable immediately, but becomes even more obvious after the salmon is frozen or smoked. The careful handling after bleeding ensures that our salmon are treated with respect all along the processing chain, resulting in the least degradation possible.
To maintain our strict standards, we are there every step of the way: from the catching of the salmon, the bleeding and icing of the salmon, and all the way through the tendering and ultimate processing of the salmon. Lummi Island Wild Co-op is one of the very few companies who handle and touch their fish from saltwater to processing to freezer to shipping. Clean taste, with no bitterness, and exceptional handling: that is why you choose Lummi Island Wild.
