Most Wild Salmon that is commercially harvested are excellent and offer superb table fare! However, because we catch our PREMIUM GRADE Salmon in the ocean far offshore, it gives us a benefit over other harvested Wild Salmon. These Pacific Chinook and Coho are anadromous, which means they are hatched in a river, migrate through an estuary into the ocean to grow and chase the large schools of baitfish found there. They will spend 1 to 8 years there feeding voraciously, growing fast and packing on rich oils and omega 3 fatty acids to sustain them on their long return journey to spawn. Once a fish hits the bays, estuary’s and into the river on their return to spawn, they stop feeding and derive their energy off the fat reserves accumulated while in the ocean. Their rich oils and omega 3 fatty acids begin to drop. Targeting these fish in the ocean ensures that their rich oils and heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids are at their absolute peak. 

Our by-catch of Halibut and Rockfish spend their entire lifecycle in the Ocean and do not experience the flesh degrading properties that Salmon do when spawning. Most Rockfish and Flatfish take several years before reaching sexual maturity and can in some cases live to be over 50 years old and spawn multiple times. The spawning process does not affect these fish as they continue to feed, maintaining their oil and protein levels throughout their lifecycle.     

Salmon, Halibut and Rockfish harvested using the Troll caught method are of such high quality they are considered to be the Filet Mignon of the ocean! Troll caught fish are harvested one at a time, with hook and line by hand, where we take the time with each and every fish to land them on board carefully. We fish only as many barbless hooks as we feel we can handle, usually between 30-40, and still maintain our high quality PREMIUM GRADE standards. We are considered a discriminate fishery that is friendly to the environment because nearly every fish that comes to the back of our boat on our fishing lines is alive, so we are able to release those fish that are either too small or we are not allowed to keep. We can also structure our fishing techniques to target certain species of fish by modifying our fishing tackle, running our tackle at certain depths or moving to different areas of the ocean.  

Once salmon reach the open ocean they migrate where large concentrations of bait fish exist, all the way up to the Gulf of Alaska. Fish that originate from here in Washington State spend the majority of their life in the “cold pristine waters of Alaska”, just like fish that originate in Alaska. Alaska’s fish are great, but believe it or not, the Alaska Troll fishery harvests the majority of their Chinook Salmon from Salmon runs that originate right here in Washington States own Columbia River, albeit less mature fish than we do.  Click here for more information (scroll to pages 27-30)

However, we have a distinct advantage over Alaska, that is our proximity to our Salmon’s migration. Like a bear that eats with an insatiable appetite just prior to hibernation, so too will a Salmon feed & fatten up just prior to hitting the bays and estuary's on their return to spawn. That makes our “Local” fishing grounds out of LaPush, WA. ideal because our location is close to their natal spawning grounds but still in the ocean while they are feeding. The later you harvest a Salmon in the ocean while it is still feeding voraciously prior to it hitting the estuary, the higher the fats and oils which equals a higher quality product.

This allows us to deliver the highest quality, freshest, PREMIUM GRADE Pacific Salmon, Halibut and Rockfish to Washington State’s finest restaurants, fish markets, and discerning consumers.  Delivered fresh, never frozen.

While all this is important for anadromous Salmon, we believe that our location is that much better for our Halibut and Rockfish by-catch as there is none fresher that our customers can enjoy because of our proximity and method of harvest.

Quality care or what we in the industry call “Handling”, is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. It’s what we believe separates us from the pack (dock grade) with regard to quality and elevates our fish to PREMIUM GRADE. Once a fish is caught and comes aboard a vessel, prompt attention done with care and skill, then getting the fish to 0° Celsius as quickly as possible can significantly add to the quality of each fish. Our detail oriented process done right, with expertise, guarantees our customers receive the freshest, highest grade of fish possible.

To land a fish that is on one of our hooks at the back of our vessel, often times we will gently pick them right out of the water with our hand. However, if the fish is still actively fighting, we use a tool we call a gaff hook and carefully, with skill gaff the fish in what we call the bullseye, right in the gill plate. Once onboard our vessel, we then bring a swift humane end of life to the fish with a brain spike to the hindbrain and a precursor act of a method known as Ikejime, we use this procedure to improve the quality of the flesh. The method is used to prevent reflex action from happening; such muscle movements would otherwise consume adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the muscle, and as a result produce lactic acid, making the fish sour. (Read here for more on fish processing steps and the role of ATP) Immediately after capture we pre-bleed the fish by making a small incision in one of the gills and place the fish in a slurry ice mixture out of direct sunlight that registers -1° Celsius for up to 1 hour. We then pressure bleed to completely exsanguinate the vascular system and personally clean every fish, then place them in a second slurry ice/salt mixture for several hours to rapidly chill the fish, improve scale retention and to move the fish into the rigor-mortise stage in a controlled, deliberate manner. Then finally bury them in ice in our fish hold until we return to Port.

Our fish are never out of our care as we perform the “landing” process upon our return to port ensuring that all aspects exceed the standards of seafood HACCP guidelines. 

Watch the video below to see our process from beginning to end!

During the “landing” and delivery process, commercially caught fish will go through many hands and stops as they make their way to the end user. It is through these final steps where the integrity of the fish can be compromised. Time and temperature are the enemy of seafood so it is critical that the core temperature of fish stay below 38°-40° per seafood HACCP guidelines. Our fish, as you can see in the photo below, stay well below that level during the entire time they are in our care. Rapid personal delivery to the Seattle area by us is accomplished ensuring our efforts at sea are not negated by poor quality control during this stage. We perform every aspect of getting our fish to our customers, from catching to final delivery, no one but us ever enters the equation ensuring that our high standards while catching the fish are maintained during landing and delivery as well, guaranteeing our PREMIUM GRADE!