Photo credit: Iliamna Fish Co.
Over the years I’ve been a happy consumer of high-quality sockeye salmon from Iliamna Fish Co., a multi-generational family-owned cooperative that fishes in Bristol Bay, Alaska. They offer their seasonal catch in eight cities/regions via the share structure—each person orders a share in the spring and picks it up later in the year (fish is flash-frozen). And ordering 2022’s share should go live this week—possibly as early as Thursday, April 7.
I first encountered Iliamna Fish Co. in 2010 when it was mentioned in a Chowhound (RIP) thread about where to buy wild salmon in NYC. It’s possible that this was their first year offering salmon shares. At that point they had just two distribution points—Brooklyn, NY and Portland, OR. I would take the N train to the 7 train to the G train, then walk over to the old Brooklyn Kitchen/Meat Hook location (also RIP) and meet the Iliamna Fish Co. folks, who were always in a good mood, chatty and happy. I’d lug home 12 pounds of frozen fish (usually I’d call a car service, but sometimes take the subway home) and feel super satisfied.
When I was leaving NYC for Portland, I was thrilled that I was still going to be able to access Iliamna’s wonderful sockeye salmon shares in my new city. I mentioned this to one of the fisherfolk at my final NYC pickup and she responded, “and at Portland prices!” Here in Portland our shares are bigger than in NYC.
Photo credit: Iliamna Fish Co.
One of the reasons I like supporting them is because of the way they fish:
“We fish completely by hand, using small, 50 fathom nets. We fish out of 20-foot long skiffs, small craft that preserve the quality of our fish, because our fish are not crushed under hundreds of tons of other fish, or roughly-harvested with industrial machinery.”
The percentage of by-catch is extremely low (.015%) and they work with biologists in service of sustainability: “no fishing is allowed until the biologists who manage the fishery determine that sufficient numbers of fish have escaped to their natal rivers, streams and lake to spawn.”
I looked on the website and they’ve expanded quite a bit since those early days. Aside from NYC and PDS, lucky people in Seattle, Eugene, Corvallis, Central Oregon, Austin, Philly, and Cambridge MA will all get to enjoy this beautiful fish.
Photo credit: Iliamna Fish Co.
- Choose your city as Portland and order shares.
- Fish is caught up in the Bristol Bay, AK, then filleted, vacuum-sealed, and flash-frozen.
- Pick up your share at the dedicated distribution location (in Portland it has been in inner SE)
- For payment you can pay half up front and half when you pick up, or pay the whole amount when you place your order (I usually do the former).
This year, along with shares of their sashimi-grade sockeye salmon shares, canned salmon in boneless & skinless tins will also be available to order. During certain times of the year they also offer smoked salmon for purchase.
If you’d like to participate in Iliama’s CSA (community supported fishery, kind of like a CSA), head to the Shares page and sign up to be notified when the website opens up for orders. Pricing is unknown at this time but I expect it will be somewhere in the high $200s per share (but don’t quote me on that). It’s about 20 pounds of salmon.
I can’t recommend their fish enough. In fact, we had a filet this evening and it was just so delicious. I’ll be participating again as a salmon shareholder and I hope you will join me.
Many, many thanks to the good people (especially Eike, who has been a point of contact for many years there) at Iliamna Fish Co. for providing excellent fish each year to their shareholders.
Iliamna Fish Co. Salmon Shares
Website open for ordering shares: estimated Thursday, April 7, 2022
portland@redsalmon.com
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Meg Cotner
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Hi Meg! thank you for such a comprehensive description of our company and share program. We are so grateful you’ve relied on us to represent you on the waters of Alaska each season.