“Lost” salmon, eh? (Sorry, that’s a little Canadian humor – or is it ‘humour’?).

I think we were supposed to turn left...

The Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, today announced that there will be a judicial inquiry into the disappearance of about 10 million sockeye salmon that were supposed to show up this summer to the Fraser River. The Fraser River runs right threw the little town known as Vancouver, British Columbia – hey, Mr. Harper, you might want to start your inquiry there.

But many people have many fingers to point. Some suggest native fishermen illegally fishing, others suggest warming river temperatures. The list continues; over-fishing, pollution, habitat destruction, lack of food sources, flooding, urbanization, new predators (squid), salmon farms, fertilizer run-off, salmon ranching…yes, salmon ranching.

Dr. Craig Orr, biologist at Watershed Watch, today suggested that hatchery fish may have eaten the ocean dry – someones been reading this blog, huh Mr. Orr? Well, you may be on to something Craig, because 5 billion hatchery salmon are released from Alaska, Russia and Asia to compete for food with wild salmon. These hatchery fished were happily feeding in the Bering Sea before those Canadian sockeye had even shown their fishy passports at customs.

But before all the finger pointing gets put under oath, you may want to answer the most important question – Lost? Were they ever there in the first place?

The State of Alaska has just released its 2008 annual report that summarizes the size of its salmon ranching program. It’s no surprise to us that a significant percentage of Alaskan salmon is cultured, and even less surprising that marketers (including the Seafood Watch program and Marine Stewardship Council) will continue to ignore this fact.

In 2008;

• Alaska hatcheries released over 1.4 billion juvenile salmon into the ocean basin to compete with wild salmon for food
• an estimated 60 million adult salmon of hatchery origin survived and returned
• there were approximately 146 million salmon harvested in the commercial and sport fishery, and an estimated 60 million, or 41% were produced by the Alaska salmon ranching program
• in the Prince William Sound area, ranched salmon accounted for 91% of the salmon in the commercial harvest
• Over 60 million ranched salmon are expected to return in 2009

Wild huh? The only thing ‘wild’ about Alaska salmon is the fact that they can keep this program so secret.

To learn more about salmon ranching, click here.

To view the annual report, click here.

Since it’s the season to give, we thought we’d share with you our favorite Alaska salmon recipe.  This is the best recipe for readying Alaska salmon for your Christmas dinner, but it’s probably not what you think…

Step #1 – pour 100 salmon eggs into a large plastic tray. Culture for about 2 months.

Step #2 - after the eggs hatch, add a pinch of commercially available fish feed. This diet will contain beta-carotenes that are healthy for the baby salmon and also turn the flesh a nice red colour. Continue this process for another 3 months.

Step #3 –  when the baby salmon are large enough and feeding well, move them carefully from the freshwater hatcheries to the saltwater fish farms to continue growing. Be careful not to spill.

Step #4 – add more fish feed and continue growing the salmon in net pens for 2 to 12 months. If your salmon doesn’t feel well, order some drugs to make it feel better (don’t worry, that happens a lot in Alaska). Hint : the longer and larger you can grow your salmon, the better chance it has to out-compete wild salmon.

Step #5 – let your salmon go. It may die, but that’s OK, cause there are 99 more right behind it. And don’t worry about the fact that your salmon is eating fish in the ocean not meant for it or that your salmon may hump other wild salmon and eradicate them – it happens all the time in Alaska – it’s called ocean ranching.

Step #6 – when your salmon returns a few years later, catch it, tell your dinner guests it’s wild and serve it with a squeeze of lemon and pinch of basil.

Serving Size – Due to the fact that 96% of the 100 baby salmon you released will die, this meal only serves a family of four. If you would like to serve millions, then simply add more eggs. Try 1.5 billion – why not – the state of Alaska does it. Don’t you worry if there isn’t enough food in the ocean or if you erase the gene pool of natural wild salmon! If no one else cares, then why should you?

Not quite what you were expecting, huh?

Merry Christmas from ‘The Truth About Alaska Salmon’!

A local rag in Juneau, Alaska, recently printed a full page ad asking readers, “What’s the secret to catching fish in Alaska”?

Oh, oh, teacher, can we answer that one!

To catch a fish in Alaska, why don’t you just hang out next to one of the state run hatcheries (like the one in the photo below) and wait for 80 million hatchery released salmon to return like boomerangs. You see, these cultured salmon aren’t supposed to return to actual rivers. As long as their compass is working they’ll return to the same place where they were hatched, fed and released. 

Hidden Falls Salmon Ranching Hatchery

These ‘boomerangs’ are actually referred to as ranched salmon. Ranched salmon account for over 30% of the annual salmon catch in Alaska.

Call us ‘brown nosers’ or ‘teacher’s pet’, but we think we deserve an A+ for nailing that one!