Idaho Matters

Why landlocked foodies are buying wild Alaskan salmon in bulk

Eastern Idaho and western Wyoming are hotspots for salmon shares from Bristol Bay, Alaska. Customers are increasingly buying wild sockeye in bulk because they say it tastes better, and they want to support small businesses.

Broadcast on:: 08 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

A blonde middle-aged woman in a bright blue shirt holds up a plastic bag of over foot-long salmon pieces. You can see the skin and reddish flesh. Behind here is a blue tent and blue trailer, where the company is delivering fish to other customers. — (Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )

Excitement was in the air as people spent one of the last Saturdays of summer lined up in a coffee shop parking lot in Teton Valley in Eastern Idaho. They were there for fresh Alaskan salmon — 10-, 20- and 40-pound boxes of fillets and ground sockeye.

“This is it right here,” said Carlen Hervig, standing at the front of the line under a blue tent “So, see. It just looks so beautiful.”

Hervig pointed to the vacuum-sealed bag of bright red-orange ground-up salmon.

She was picking up for a neighbor and getting herself some foot-long fillets to serve at dinner parties.

“It's a pretty big piece, so once you're going to thaw one out you kind of want to know, 'OK, I'm having friends over. I can serve this many portions,'” she explained.

A photo of two fresh-looking ruby red salmon fillets, with a white background. — ( Courtesy of Kirstyn Sterling)

Hervig has been coming back for this wild salmon for years. It comes from Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. Fed by six major rivers, the bay is home to the largest wild salmon run on the planet, and it’s sustainably managed.

Hervig said the fish from there just tastes better than the farm-raised stuff you find in the grocery store. Plus, wild salmon is hard to come by in this part of Idaho since many varieties are endangered and illegal to fish.

“I think the first year we delivered seven boxes and we thought that was a huge deal,” said Amanda Wlaysewski with Kvichak Fish Company. “And, now, it's grown into, what, 70 people.”

That’s 3,600 pounds of salmon today.

A line of people stand in a parking lot - one is walking in the foreground - waiting to get up to a blue tent and trailer. You can see a building in the background that says “Rise.” — (Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )

Wlaysewski first got hooked on Alaskan salmon after spending a summer at a cannery in Naknek, Alaska after high school.

Now, she and a friend from the cannery run this company, working with fishermen on the Kvichak River in Bristol Bay.

“When we first were starting out we just assumed that we were gonna be a company that put fish in a box and shipped it all over the country, and right away, we stopped doing that,” she said.

Instead, they opted to keep operations small. They now ship the salmon by barge and truck to Bozeman, Montana — where Wlaysewski lives — and load it all into a bright blue freezer-cold trailer. Then, once a year, Wlaysewski, her sister and her business partner haul it to different pickup spots in Montana and Idaho.

Two woman stand in front of blue trailer than says “Kvichak Fish Company” in a parking lot. — (Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )

They started serving this small community in Driggs, Idaho, in 2016. Wlaysewski was friends with a fisherman who used to deliver here, and when he retired, she helped locals continue to have access to wild fish.

“They care about knowing where it comes from because the economy around here is focused around agriculture and food,” said Wlaysewski, “and just a desire to support small producers because a lot of them are small producers themselves.”

In recent years, at least three other companies have started bringing wild salmon here and across the state line in Jackson Hole.

Tons of bags of salmon pieces in a green cooler on ice. — (Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media )

In Salt Lake City, Kirstyn Sterling runs a similar company.

“We all started out with this because it was like, ‘Oh, you're a fisherman in Alaska. So how do we get fish?’” Sterling said.

She fishes every summer in Bristol Bay, living in a 700-square-foot cabin with her husband and two kids. For the rest of the year, she sells salmon in the Mountain West.

“If you're an expecting mother, this is like the most perfect food for you ever,” she said. ‘If you are a little baby that’s just starting out eating, this is the most perfect food for you ever. If you're a dog, this is the most perfect food for you ever.”

A family, two adults and two young blonde kids, pose on a fishing boat with blue bay water behind them. — (Courtesy of Kirstyn Sterling)

Sterling’s business has been growing, but part of her job is still convincing people that wild sockeye is healthier than fish raised on farms, which are fed pellets, antibiotics and dyes. But her fish is ruby red from eating plankton and krill in the open ocean.

“You're paying a little bit more, but it's so much better for you and it tastes so much better,” she said.

A single piece of wild salmon can be about $18 a pound — about twice as much as the farm-raised grocery stuff. But the Alaskan fish can be cheaper if you buy in bulk or ahead of the season, like folks in Teton Valley, Idaho.

Back at the pick-up, local resident Kyle Barrus is cramming 15 boxes into his Subaru Outback. He works at a nearby ranch. Some of the fish is for him, but he’s also picking up for family and neighbors.

A man wearing glasses, a baseball hat and a plaid short-sleeve shirt stands in front of a dark gray car, filled with brown boxes that say “Kvichak Fish Company.” — (Hanna Merzbach / Wyoming Public Media)

“I've come to just really like these guys,” Barrus said. “I like supporting Amanda [Wlaysewski], and I like supporting small business.”

And just like having a deer or elk in the freezer, Barrus said he’s excited to have all this wild salmon stored up for the long winter ahead.

Can he taste the difference from grocery store salmon?

“I don’t know,” Barrus said. “It’s delicious. I know that.”

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Land-locked foodies in our region are increasingly buying wild salmon in bulk. Fishing companies are bringing hundreds of thousands of pounds of fish directly from Alaska to customers. Wyoming Public Radio's Hannah Mursbach reports on a community salmon share in eastern Idaho. Excitement is in the air as people spend one of the last Saturdays of summer lined up in a coffee shop parking lot in Teton Valley. They're here for fresh Alaskan salmon, 10, 20 or 40-pound boxes of fillets and ground sockeye. This is it right here, so see? It just looks so beautiful. Standing at the front of the line under a blue tent, Carlin Hervig points to the vacuum-sealed bag of bright red-orange ground-up salmon. She's picking up for a neighbor and getting herself some foot-long fillets to serve at dinner parties. Because you see it's a pretty big piece, so once you're going to thaw one out, you kind of want to know, "Okay, I'm having friends over or I can serve this many portions." Hervig has been coming back for this wild salmon for years. It comes from Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska. Fed by six major rivers, it's home to the largest wild salmon run on the planet. Hervig says the fish from there just tastes better than the farm-raised stuff you find at the grocery store. And wild salmon is hard to come by in this part of Idaho, since many varieties are endangered and illegal to fish. "I think the first year we delivered seven boxes, and we thought that was a huge deal." Amanda Luszewski is with Quijak Fish Company. "Now it's grown into what? Seventy people?" That's 3,600 pounds of salmon today. She first got hooked on Alaskan salmon after spending a summer at a cannery and knacnek after high school. Now she and a friend from the cannery run this company working with fishermen on the Quijak River in Bristol Bay. "When we first were starting out, we just assumed that we were going to be a company that put fish in a box and shipped it all over the country, and right away we stopped doing that." And opted to keep operations small. They now ship the salmon by barge and truck to Montana and load it all into a bright blue freezer-cold trailer. Then once a year, Luszewski and her sister haul it to different pick-up spots in Montana and Idaho. They started serving this small community in 2016. "They care about knowing where it comes from because the economy around here is focused around agriculture and food and just a desire to support small producers, because a lot of them are small producers themselves." In recent years, at least three other companies have started bringing wild salmon here, and across the state line in Jackson Hole. Kirsten Stirling runs a similar company at a Salt Lake City. "We all started out with this because it was like, 'Oh, you're a fisherman in Alaska, so how do we get fish?'" Stirling fishes every summer in Bristol Bay, living in a 700-square-foot cabin with her husband and two kids. For the rest of the year, she sells salmon in the mountain west. "If you're an expecting mother, this is like the most perfect food for you ever. If you're a little baby, this is the most perfect food for you ever. If you're a dog, this is the most perfect food for you ever." Stirling's business has been growing, but part of her job is still convincing people that wild sockeye is healthier than fish raised on farms, which are fed pellets, antibiotics, and dyes, but her fish is ruby-red from eating plankton and krill in the open ocean. "You're paying a little bit more, but it's so much better for you, and it tastes so much better." A single piece of wild salmon can be about $18 a pound, about twice as much as the farm raised grocery stuff. But it can be cheaper if you buy a bulk or a head of the season, like folks in Teton Valley, Idaho. "30 pounds of salmon, fully." Back at the pickup, local resident Kyle Barris is cramming 15 boxes into his Subaru Outback. He works at a nearby ranch, some of the fishes for him, but he's also picking up for family and neighbors. "I've come to just really like these guys. I like supporting Amanda and I like supporting small businesses." "Can you taste the difference?" "I don't know. It's delicious. I know that." And just like having a deer or elk in the freezer, Barris says he's excited to have all this wild salmon stored up for the long winter ahead. For Wilding Public Radio, I'm Hannah Mersbach in Teton Valley, Idaho.