Copper River Salmon has hit IL market

RRP

As usual about this time of year that delicious Copper River Salmon has made it's way to our local fish monger. Price is up again this year now to $19.95 per pound for sockeye - I'll hate to see their price for CP King! Anybody know was it a bad season this year for Copper River or is the marketing thrust behind the hype just driving up the cost? Just a few years ago CP sockeye was $14.95 here.

fishlessman

and to think i keep letting the salmon go. im glad we can fish for the wild ones up here. found this a while back, lots of plank recipes
http://www.justsmokedsalmon.com/plankrecipes.htm

reelgem

Ron, I think Copper River salmon is a big marketing ploy. Is it good?, yes. Is it worth the price, no. We used to get caught up in the hype and stock up our freezer with 100lbs of the Copper River King every spring. But after we went to Alaska and spoke to the locals and found out more about it we stopped buying it.
I talked to Melissa (Alaskan C)about the copper river salmon. I wanted to get her take on it and she feels that copper river salmon are the same as every other wild caught salmon. She also agrees that they have an excellent marketing scheme/scam.

Just opinions but wanted to pass along.

RRP

Thanks Anne,
That has been my realization as well and I too used to let the mystic or hype lure me to buying lot$$$ as well. It is good for just plain salmon so the richness can shine, but any more we doctor the fish so much that cheaper salmon is just as good.

Seattle Todd

Strange. Up hear in Sea-Town it's cheaper this year probably due to the economy. Previous years it's gone up a bit each year. We've been seeing it a bit over a week and the prices are falling further. A local store near me had a 3 day sale over the weekend with CR King going for $17.99/lb.

You're right it's mostly marketing hype although IMHO it is slightly superior to most other salmon. I typically get it once a year just as a tradition and only buy it again if the prices really drop.

The speil is that CR salmon is one of the longest runs so the fish has to store more fat since they don't eat when they start spawning up river.

At the same time the Yukon River is a longer run and should have even more fat and although it's a bit higher than 'generic' wild salmon it's normally not anywhere near as high as CR.

AlaskanC

is that what they're telling people?

omg that is funny.

fishlessman

our sebago lake trout have an even highr fat count, greasy bottom dwellers, if i word it correctly can i get 20 bucks a pound too. really high in omega 3 :laugh:

Seattle Todd

There is a bit of truth to the higher quality down here in the lower 48 though. Even at Pike Place Market in Seattle other than Copper River and Yukon all the other wild salmon is 'generic'. So it could be comparable in fat content but maybe not. CR marketing just ensures a pretty high quality fish. And jacks the price up ridiculously even for the quality.

Even in Seattle though CR quality varies. The higher end groceries, restaurants and fish markets get the first pick of the CR fish and big chains get what's left.

You folks in Alaska are just lucky that you can get even better fish and you actually know where it comes from.

I'm just thankful that in Seattle we're lucky enough to get fresh king crab about a month a year. As you well know I was blown away by the difference in flavor between the frozen stuff and the fresh-cooked the first time I tried it.