Why Shares

The Sitka Salmon Shares Difference

Not all fish are the same. Most fish on your plate are raised in corporate-owned farms or caught in large, ecologically-destructive nets pulled by factory trawlers. Wanna See? At Sitka Salmon Shares, we think there's value in getting fish to consumers that are caught much in the same way they used to be: by independent, small boat fishermen who put quality ahead of quantity and who care about their end product. What's the Sitka Salmon Shares Difference? Well, here you go:

Clearly Caught.

So when's the last time you've known who caught your fish at the seafood counter. At Sitka Salmon Shares, you'll know who caught your fish, how it was caught, and where it was caught. You'll know that all your fish are treated with care, caught individually, and, as one of our fisher friends put it, "babied from the moment they're captured."

The 1%.

Only 1 percent of the world's fish are caught by trolling with hook and line. Your king and coho salmon will be caught in this method. It produces the highest quality fish and minimizes bycatch. If a fish is too small or not a desired species, a fishermen can simply release it back into the wild. Because they can't be captured on hook-and-line, your sockeye will be caught by low-volume gillnet fishermen who handle their fish with the type of care they deserve. All of our sockeye receive an innovative pressure bleeding treatment, a type of process almost unknown among fishermen. Your halibut and black cod are also caugbt by hook-and-line in a processing called "long-linging," a much more ecologically sensitive way of catching bottom dwelling fish than dragging a giant net along the bottom.

1% to the wild.

We deal only in the top one percent of fish and to honor those fish we give one percent of all revenue back to them by supporting salmon habitat restoration, salmon habitat enhancement, fisheries conservation, and salmon outreach and education in Southeast Alaska. It's the least we can do.

Wild.

Fish farming has changed the rules of the game, especially for salmon. Now, the vast majority of salmon are raised in farms. They're fed antibiotics, destroy, coastal ecologies, and put Alaska's fishermen out of work. All your Sitka Salmon Shares salmon comes from the wild waters of Southeast Alaska.

Sustainable.

You may not know this, but Alaska was a pioneer in sustainably managed fisheries. It's actually one of the reasons Alaska became a state! Now, Alaska has the best managed fisheries in the world and salmon are its best managed fishery. Alaska's scientists, policy makers, fisheries managers, and fishermen work together to make sure Alaska's fish resources are managed responsibly so that future generations can enjoy Alaska's amazing renewable resource! We also know that fish don't fly without fossil fuels. So until cleaner transportation options emerge, we're committed to buying carbon offsets that help fund Midwestern wind energy.

Fishermen get more. You Pay Less.

Fishing is hard work. Unfortunately, like to many other places in the food chain, most of the money goes to middlemen. By simplifying the route that fish travel from their harvest to your plate, we put more money into the pockets of independent, small-boat fishermen in Southeast Alaska, helping to ensure that their local economies and communities continue to thrive. How much you ask? Sitka Salmon Shares fishermen earn between 5 and 100% more per pound than if they simply sold to a large processor.