A Tongue in Cheek Look at Salmon Marketing Terms

As we travel around the country or surf the web, the amusement level can get very high when reading Salmon product descriptions!

We thought it would be fun to take an “insiders peek” at certain commonly used descriptive terms and then let you know what they really mean…if in fact they actually mean anything!

Some of our favorite marketing terms:

Term #1. “Boneless & Skinless” - Usually a poorly handled, net caught fish that has been badly bruised, grade 3 or 4. The fish is split, and “deep skinned” to remove the skin and bruising marks. These fillets are significantly thinner than a grade 1 or grade 2 fish. Unfortunately, most of the Omega 3 oils concentrate between the skin and the meat! So, less fish & less oil! It sounds pretty good though! (I think the phrase was borrowed from poultry marketing)

Term #2. “Organic Salmon” – Salmon is either Wild or it is Farm Raised. There is no classification for “Organic Salmon”. In recent investigative articles in the New York Times and Consumer Reports, several retailers referred to their Salmon as “Organic”. In each and every case, it was a farm raised fish but sold at the Wild Salmon price! (See previous Blog Post for links to the articles.)

Term #3. “Salmon” – There has been no Federal requirement to identify salmon by species, thus “Salmon” or “Wild Salmon” could mean any salmon species. This is great for the grocery store, but bad for you! King (Chinook), Sockeye, and Steelhead are the premium Wild Salmon Species. Chum (Dog, Keta etc.) and Pink Salmon are “Wild Salmon”, but are significantly softer fish with much lower oil content. Since 2005, there is a Federal Requirement to identify Salmon as Wild or Farm Raised and the Country of Origin…. For some reason, this only applies to grocery stores, not fish markets…hmmmm.

Term #4. “Boneless” This is a favorite! Wild Salmon have two types of “bones”. First, there are the standard backbone and rib bones descending downward from the backbone towards the belly. These are easily removed in the filleting process. Next there are the “pin bones” which extend upwards from the backbone into the fillet at roughly a 45 degree angle. In Wild Salmon, this cartilage bone is firmly held in the meat and difficult to remove. Thus, with many suppliers, the “pin bones” are now “cartilage” not “bones”. Pin Bones in farm raised fish are much easier to remove as they are not strongly attached to the fish due to its sedentary existence. This is actually a great way to tell the difference between Wild and Farm Raised Salmon in the grocery or fish market. If the pin bones remove easily, it is either real old fish or farm raised! At Wild Ocean Seafoods, all of our Salmon Fillets are Boneless with Pin Bones Removed!

Visit our Online Store for Wild, Boneless, Pin Bones Removed Salmon & Steelhead Fillets!

Wild Ocean Seafoods Product Update

It’s sunny in Ferndale today. All the shipping is done, so we figured it was time to let everyone know what we have been up to the past couple of months!

First, NEW STUFF!
We are carrying Tom Douglas’ “Run with Love” Spice Rubs on our Web Site. The response, especially from “Northwest Transplants” has been tremendous, with our initial order sold out in 4 days! (We have more in stock) Check out our Spices, Rubs & Oils Category!

Still on the Tom Douglas note, many of you are familiar with him from his Seattle Restaurants (The Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s Seafood, the Palace Kitchen & Lola); or from Guest Appearances on Emeril Live! For those who are unfamiliar with Tom, he is a James Beard Association Award Winning Chef (1994) and Author. His latest book called “I love Crab Cakes” features Northwest Dungeness Crab. A link to his books and other Northwest Recipes can be found at: The Wild Ocean Seafoods Recipe Page.

Another new partner in providing the "Complete Solution" to Salmon Grilling is Rachael Ray! We are awaiting our new shipment of Rachael Ray EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil). We have EVOO available in 8.5oz, 17oz, & 25oz bottles. See it all on our Spices, Rubs & Oils Page!

Lastly, we have developed some new products, featuring Tom Douglas’ Salmon Spice Rub! We have both Sockeye Salmon & Steelhead Salmon pre-spiced with Tom’s Salmon Rub! Each offering features 3lbs of Salmon, Ready to Grill, pre-spiced with Tom’s Salmon Rub & Traditional Alder Cooking Plank! This rub is what is used to prepare “Etta’s Salmon” ("the best salmon dish in Seattle" - Northwest Palate Magazine). It’s like eating “Seattle’s Best Salmon” at home at 1/3 the price! (If you happen to come to Seattle, there really is no place better to enjoy Salmon than Etta’s, we encourage you to visit!)

Our REGULAR STUFF:
Salmon Prices are unlikely to take the middle season dip we have come to expect over the past decade. High fuel prices, low availability, and high Wild Salmon demand are keeping prices at winter levels. Prices are likely to be flat or RISE over the coming months as some large processors are trying to tie up the market for off season sales. We have steady supplies, but we are paying more for our fish. Since we are the primary processor, we will hold the line on prices as long as possible.

Halibut prices are remaining high due to fuel prices & high demand as well. We have adequate Halibut supplies & commitments, but prices will go higher in coming months. If you love Halibut, get it now!

Dungeness Crab will begin again soon. We like to wait until mid to late season to open our processing line. The Crabs have “filled out” into their new shells and they are a better value to you than early Dungeness Crab. We have the “good stuff” in inventory and hope to make it thru the next 60 days.

We have been reading with great interest two exposé’s; One in the New York Times, and the other in Consumer Reports regarding farm raised salmon being sold as Wild Salmon. You will be amazed at who is listed as selling mislabeled salmon! This behavior is disappointing. Looking back at all the years our fishermen “took it on the chin” competing with farmed salmon, which, as we now know have significant ecological and health issues. To have our customers mislead as to the origin of their fish is like selling “Betsy the dairy cow” as Prime Aged Black Angus Beef!

Wild is in our company name for a reason. Our forefathers have fished for Wild Salmon for over 100 years. Our reputation is built on providing the highest quality Northwest Seafood Products available, direct to our customers. We believe that our service to you has meaning, and we intend to keep innovating our processing to provide the best quality product at the lowest possible price without compromise. Hopefully, the fish will cooperate!

One last note: We maintain 2 Web Stores, Our Original Store and Our New Store at the Gourmet Food Mall. Why? Well, the Original Store Host Site is not as reliable as we would like. There seem to be ongoing problems with uptime and technical issues with their database servers. When it works, the Original Store offers anonymous checkout. Order, pay, and we ship! No need to “Register”. Our new site at the Gourmet Food Mall requires registration, as you can shop in multiple stores and have a “single checkout”. Same stuff on both sites, same prices, same shipping!

Is that really Wild Salmon?

The increase in information regarding the health benefits of Wild Salmon over farm raised salmon has become well known to consumers over the past few years. That’s the good news.

The bad news seems to be improperly or mislabeled salmon in many fish markets and grocery stores around the country. Since Wild Salmon is only available from Pacific Salmon Stocks, the various species that make up the Wild Salmon Market are unfamiliar to many people on the Atlantic Coast or Midwest. We have a complete description of each species on our website http://www.wildoceanfisheries.com/wildsalmon.html.

Many times the fish is simply labeled “Salmon” or “Wild Salmon” at the store or fish market. Since true Wild Salmon sell for appreciably more than the farm raised salmon, opportunities abound for mischief!

Of the Six Species of Wild Salmon (including Steelhead), three are considered “premium” (Sockeye, Steelhead and King (Chinook) Salmon). One Species, Coho is considered a very good value although its oil content is somewhat lower and the meat color is somewhat lighter pink. Two species, Chum & Pink Salmon, when caught in the traditional fisheries close to shore are quite fragile and are usually canned or smoked.

Here are some tips to avoid common purchasing mistakes when buying salmon outside the Pacific Northwest and Alaska:

1. If the Salmon is not identified by species…. Don’t buy it!
2. “Fresh” Salmon can be up to a week old from time of catch to display in the store. Use you nose! Look carefully at the fish to make sure it is moist and has not begun to dry out.
3. Look at the skin & spotting this will give you a good idea of the species, again check out our Wild Salmon descriptions at http://www.wildoceanfisheries.com/wildsalmon.html.
4. If the seafood counter person is the least bit evasive, go somewhere else.

Wild Salmon have a stronger flavor and have firmer meat than farm raised salmon. (Think Athlete vs. Couch Potato).

In the summer of 2005, The New York Times paid an independent laboratory to test “wild” salmon in New York City markets. Three-fourths of the stores had fraudulently labeled farmed salmon as wild, charging up to six times more than what it was worth. Farmed salmon can have high levels of PCBs, dyes and antibiotics. A chef in the story called buying authentic wild salmon “a crapshoot”. Link to the article.

In August 2006 edition of a “Leading Consumer Magazine” featuring “Dream Kitchens for Less” on the cover, there is an article on page 15 titled “The Salmon Scam – Wild often isn’t”. The secret shopping occurred from December 05 thru March 06. They found that out of 23 “Wild Salmon” samples purchased, only 10 were definitely caught in the wild! Link to the article.

What do you do as a consumer? There are many firms that offer exclusively Wild Salmon based in the Pacific Northwest. These companies stand by their reputations and have long standing commitments to the Wild Salmon Industry. As a group, we are both competitors and allies in providing genuine wild salmon & other wild seafood to consumers direct from our facilities. Most of these companies, along with ours, belong to the Seafood Choices Alliance and are committed to supporting sustainable fisheries worldwide.

Shipping seafood is expensive, so here is a tip about ordering: The best deals happen when you order 10lbs or more at a time. The total freight begins to decline at that point.

Example: 5lbs of Fish, with Gel Packs, Styro & Box weighs 8.5-10lbs and costs $36-$40 to ship. 10lbs of Fish weighs 14-15lbs shipping weight and costs $46-$54 to ship. In essence, the next 5lb of Fish costs $10-$15 dollars in freight!

Visit Our Online Store for Current Wild Salmon Availability.

What's up with the price of Wild Salmon?

It is very clear that Wild Salmon prices are higher this year then in previous years. The factors that can be attributed to this increase are outlined below:

Fuel
The price of fuel for the fishing fleet at the fuel barge in Kodiak, AK is running $4-$4.50 per gallon. This is 40% higher than last year.

Transportation
The price of air freight is up 12%-18% over last year, mostly due to jet fuel price increases. Express services such as FedEx & UPS rates are up for both the jet & vehicle fuel related reasons.

Demand
With well maintained stocks, there are small increases in Salmon inventory year by year, but demand is significantly higher. The clear health benefits of Wild Salmon over farm raised fish are the key driver of market scarcity.

Salmon Size
Early salmon runs typically yield smaller fish. As the fish size average decreases, the recoverable meat as a ratio to the caught size goes down. Most of the fish caught in early runs average 4-6lbs. A 4-6lb salmon, filleted & boneless has 53%-58% recoverable meat. In larger fish, the recovery percentage goes up to 72%-76%.

Financial Analysis
Fuel is the largest expense incurred by the fishing fleet. Fuel alone has doubled the boat price for non-premium Salmon such as Pink & Chum. Premium Salmon species such as Coho, Sockeye & Chinook (King) are up 30 cents per pound as a result of fuel related costs.
Air freight & Express Services are up 14 cents per pound to deliver the fish to US Markets. LTL Reefer truck hauling has also increased by an average of 16 cents per pound.
Market demand has pushed both the fresh & fresh frozen markets up $2-$4 per pound over last year. It is unlikely that the surplus seen in past years will exist or be any significant percentage of the total catch.
Salmon size in Coho, Chinook & Sockeye are running small in the early season, thus the edible recovery is down 20% over late summer and early fall salmon runs.

The Crystal Ball
We expect that the average cost per pound of Premium Wild Salmon Species to be up $2.40 to $3.12 per pound for this years catch. Fuel & Transportation prices will mitigate the middle season price declines. Demand for larger fish with higher recovery will move prices up, eliminating the recovery gain from the larger fish.

Visit our Website www.WildOceanFisheries.com for more information about Wild Salmon or our Online Store for current Salmon Pricing & Availability.