Fresh Copper River Salmon will be available this week. Let me repeat:Fresh Copper River Salmon is coming! Opening day is this Thursday at 7 am. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute forecasts 1.4 million sockeye and 27 thousand chinooks this year, which is about the same as last year. Chefs across the country are already working on new menus and, of course, there will be a big production as the fish is flown into Seattle for dinners either Thursday or Friday night. I spoke with executive chef Dan Enos from The Oceanaire in Boston, he said he plans serve it with just a little bit of salt and pepper, lemon and olive oil. “When the Alaska salmon comes in it’s a no brainer, it flies off the menu.”
Copper River is the 10th largest river in the United States. The salmon have to travel 300 miles to get to their spawning grounds, which requires extra stores of of omega-3 fatty acids. The journey adds to it’s richness.
I stopped by Glacier BrewHouse and was told they’re expecting fresh salmon by next week. “It’s a good time to be a chef in Alaska.” Jay Edades a sous chef at BrewHouse said.


