Something’s Fishy
The much-heralded Copper River salmon has begun arriving from Alaska. And, according to this article, you can expect to pay a heart-stopping $35/lb for the stuff. Wow. I remember growing up in Ohio, and salmon was one of those “fish you can’t catch in Lake Erie”. It came in cans and, because my mother will never eat anything that has completely immersed itself in water, the only time I saw salmon, or sardines, was in my grandma’s fruitroom in her basement. And both (salmon and sardines) tasted good to me initially, but eventually put me off because of the bones they were packed with and, in the case of the sardines, the eyes that stared at you when you peeled off the lid. At least with canned tuna, they had the decency to pack it without bones and eyeballs.
So, I come to the Pacific Northwest and reacquaint myself with salmon in its fresh, glorious incarnation in local markets, and then two things happen:
- they start killing so many fish with dams, development and logging that you start to feel bad when you eat one that has actually survived, and
- Alaska gets the bright idea to “brand” the Copper River run of sockeye, to the extent that people all over the country are salivating for news of the flight carrying the first batch of these rock-star fish.
I doubt this first batch of fish flies “coach”. I’m sure they’re all wearing sunglasses and bling, and ride in this specially outfitted Alaska Airlines 737, which is configured as a world-class flying aquarium. Each fish has an agent waiting at SeaTac to whisk it off to a 5-star hotel in a limo, there to lounge in splendor while the agent negotiates a killer contract for it (regrettably for the fish, none of the contracts in this business is “no-cut”).
So, that’s why you’re paying NBA-like prices for salmon. Scott Boras is personally representing that fish on your plate, and David Stern probably has a seat on the Pacific Fisheries Council.
Bon Appetit!
