Used the Salmon Burger meat to make Salmon cakes last night. I was worried, as the bag did not seem to have kept its vacuum seal, and crystals had started to collect on the fish. Nevertheless, the fish was excellent. Even though we decided that it was a little pricey for us to commit to this season, these folks do a good job.

The Sitka Salmon people have been sending out a series of emails explaining exactly how they run their business. They've discussed, in detail, how they ship their fish to the Midwest, their corporate structure, how they process their fish, who they market to, etc. Aside from the quality of the product, for those who like to know where their food came from and how it got there, these folks do it up right.

They also have a very attractive and informative website!

After signing up for a full season share, I received my first shipment from Sitka Salmon Shares last week. This months offering was Black Cod (Sablefish). I just want to say how impressed I am with his company. Plenty of communication, emails, newsletters. etc. to remind you of delivery dates, offer recipes and keep you informed of the fishery, the fishermen, and other related information.

The fish that arrived was impeccably packaged and still well frozen. I had left a cooler on my porch in case the delivery came while I was not home. I happened to be there, and the driver rang the bell instead of just dropping the fish in the cooler. He was very friendly and cordial, and had the fish in a insulated bag that he would have left had there been no-one home and no cooler. These people clearly care about their product from start to finish.

I prepared the fish using a popular clack cod recipe from Nobu:
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-nobu-mi ... cod-117238

I can honestly say it was one of the best pieces of fish I have ever had. I can't wait for next months offering (I think Halibut).

thetrob wrote:After signing up for a full season share, I received my first shipment from Sitka Salmon Shares last week.

thetrob wrote:Plenty of communication, emails, newsletters. etc. to remind you of delivery dates, offer recipes and keep you informed of the fishery, the fishermen, and other related information.

They really are a great company. I received my first-ever delivery yesterday and I too was impressed by everything from the pre-delivery information, to the delivery, to the packaging, to the actual fish, which was sensational. This month's selection is yelloweye, aka red snapper.

Tonight I sprinkled some homemade rub on a couple of filets and cooked them on my Weber kettle over indirect heat (lump charcoal) for about 12 minutes, until the internal temperature was about 130 F. I was a bit concerned that the lack of skin on the fish (I'd greatly prefer it skin-on) would create an issue but I oiled the grates well with canola oil and made sure the fire was wicked hot before I laid the fish down. No sticking, no problem. 12 minutes later, the filets lifted right up. The fish was firm, flaky, moist and delicious.

I'm glad that I signed up for a 9-month fish & seafood share, plus a 3-month wild salmon share. I love salmon and I know it's going to be great but based on this month's delivery, it's going to be a real treat getting deliveries of other superior-quality items when wild salmon isn't in season.

=R=

For those not members of the CSA, they also sell at local farmers markets and in some stores. Here is an article from the local paper about Sitka Salmon Shares.

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/4- ... ell-local/

I'll join the chorus singing the praises of Sitka Salmon.

We tried out the 3-month salmon share last year and were so pleased with the quality that we went all-in and got the full 9-month share this year. We just got some yelloweye in the first shipment and it's fantastic.

The only downside is that it's not cheap, the price averages out to something like $23/lb for the regular share. But I'll gladly pay that for high quality fish that's been handled properly from catch to freezer and delivered to my door.

thetrob wrote:For those not members of the CSA, they also sell at local farmers markets and in some stores. Here is an article from the local paper about Sitka Salmon Shares.

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/4- ... ell-local/

This is great news for those of us who just can't do a share

Add another to the list of admirers. This company does everything right. Great communication. Great delivery program. Ridiculously great product.

I did the fall share last year and as great as the salmon was, the prawns and crab were what had me swooning. In particular, the prawns were about half female and so full of roe that they made their own sauce. I can't even describe how delicious they were and they sat in my freezer for a full 3 months.

I'm awaiting my first delivery for this year in May. And put in an order for 4lbs of the prawns to be delivered in December. Worth every (pricey!) penny.

boudreaulicious wrote:I'm awaiting my first delivery for this year in May. And put in an order for 4lbs of the prawns to be delivered in December. Worth every (pricey!) penny.

So you put on an order in addition to your share? Can product be ordered w/o a share or only as an add on?

zoid wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:I'm awaiting my first delivery for this year in May. And put in an order for 4lbs of the prawns to be delivered in December. Worth every (pricey!) penny.

So you put on an order in addition to your share? Can product be ordered w/o a share or only as an add on?

Certain items are available for special order and aren't included in the shares. They may do something like the fall share again but it's not available now and I didn't want to risk it so when I saw the message about a special order opportunity for the prawns, I jumped on it. They're not included in the CSA that I purchased starting in May. Lots of other great stuff though!!

A few photos of the final destination for the prawns and crab...

Holy cow, boudreaulicious! I want all that in my belly!

Made a Mexican-style torta for lunch today with the leftover yelloweye . . .


Fish Sammich

=R=

Jumped on the summer 3 month this morning....can't wait for that June 9th delivery!

For those wondering, like I was - you don't have to go pick it up somewhere - they deliver right to your door - from their web site:
"all of the shares are home-delivered by us straight to your doorstep. About a week before your scheduled delivery, we will send a reminder email with the date and time frame of your delivery. At that point we can make adjustments as needed."

I would just add about the delivery two things:
1. You are supposed to leave an cooler outside your door, but if you forget, they leave the bag in their own bag, with plenty of dry ice. You just leave the bag outside the next time.
2. If you are out of town on delivery day, they are very accommodating about setting up another delivery date.

Put another way, outstanding service in every way.

Relatively big news today, via email, from Sitka Salmon Shares about their plans for 2019 . . .

in an email, Nic from Sitka Salmon Shares wrote: You’ll also notice a new format for our Community-Supported Fishery. Moving forward, we’ll be shifting away from guaranteed poundage and species mixes. For us to promise these would endanger many of the benefits at the core of our system--healthier oceans, fairer working conditions for small boat family fishermen, and tastier fish. As 2018 taught us, even the best management and science can’t always predict when and where wild fish will return. Pushing our fishermen to harvest fish that just aren’t there, or, worse, having to consider a purchase from an untrusted supplier in order to fill an order just doesn’t sit right with us. Instead of promising guaranteed poundage, we're moving to a poundage window that includes projected species. What we are now promising is that if for whatever reason you aren't happy with your box, just give us an email and we'll be happy to refund it or replace it with whatever you'd like that we do catch.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Relatively big news today, via email, from Sitka Salmon Shares about their plans for 2019 . . .

in an email, Nic from Sitka Salmon Shares wrote: You’ll also notice a new format for our Community-Supported Fishery. Moving forward, we’ll be shifting away from guaranteed poundage and species mixes. For us to promise these would endanger many of the benefits at the core of our system--healthier oceans, fairer working conditions for small boat family fishermen, and tastier fish. As 2018 taught us, even the best management and science can’t always predict when and where wild fish will return. Pushing our fishermen to harvest fish that just aren’t there, or, worse, having to consider a purchase from an untrusted supplier in order to fill an order just doesn’t sit right with us. Instead of promising guaranteed poundage, we're moving to a poundage window that includes projected species. What we are now promising is that if for whatever reason you aren't happy with your box, just give us an email and we'll be happy to refund it or replace it with whatever you'd like that we do catch.

=R=

Yeah, I'm trying to decide how this might impact my decision about subscribing for next year. I totally understand the reason for the change: you can't necessarily guarantee fishery production from year to year. But knowing what I was going to get was a big part of the calculus for me. I stopped a fruit and vegetable CSA in the past because I wasn't entirely satisfied just getting whatever came in the box. I found myself going to the market anyway and buying what I wanted there.

I believe you can cancel at any time if you do the month-by-month option. If so, I'm likely to sign up and see how it goes and stop if I don't like it.

That email gave me pause as well but after thinking about it I'll enthusiastically subscribe for 2019.

Most importantly they have great product at a reasonable (if not low) price. If I didn't subscribe then I'd just end up buying lesser quality fish from somewhere else.

Moreover, they have a very good track record fulfilling their promised shipments. I've subscribed for the past 3 years for a total of 21 months, which is roughly 25 "promised" species shipments. If I remember correctly they've had three problems fulfilling orders during that time. One of those times it only affected some subscribers and my box was exactly as promised. Another time they substituted more of one variety of salmon for another. While I can't remember which varieties were involved, I do recall being mildly disappointed. The third time was just last month. The sockeye run was historically bad in the region where Sitka normally sources its sockeye. They still sent the promised amount of sockeye but to do so they had to source it from another fishery.

So Sitka is something like 24 for 25 in sending me the fish I signed up for. That seems like a pretty good success rate for wild caught fish.

It sounds like this year's sockeye run was the impetus for the change in policy. Sitka was completely transparent about their sourcing, yet expressed discomfort with the arrangement because they have less control over how the fish are caught and handled. I'm happy to accept a little uncertainty in the kind of fish I'll be eating to support a company that's trying to ethically provide a high quality product.

All this deliciousness convinced me, I signed up for 2019
maybe I'll get an email with some late 2018 specials...

I signed up again for what will be my 3rd season with them.

I have always found their product to be excellent, and the one time I received a piece of fish that was sub-standard they replaced or re-funded it immediately.

There have been several instances where low stocks have prompted a change in what was shipped, but the replacements have always been great, and frankly I would be hard pressed to complain about anything or any variety ever received. When they had to change the sockeye source to another fishery they were up front about it, and they also warned us that the possibility existed that other species may or may not be available based on fishery numbers.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll be in again next year, which would be my third. The flexibility they want to allow themselves seems very much in line with their sound philosophy-- one of the main things that led to me to sign up in the first place -- so it's easy to accept it. And we're talking about an organization of supremely honorable people from top to bottom, so I'm not worried about being deceived, shorted or taken advantage of in any way. Plus, the cancel-any-time feature mitigates virtually all the risk. And, as others have posted, there's also a strong track record here, too. If I stop, it'll only be because there are times when I don't go through the fish as fast as I'd like to.

=R=

I just signed up again (year 3 as well) and concur that the product quality is beyond reproach. Every time I've served it to guests they have raved about how great it is (and a bunch have joined on as well).

I also just loaded up on their end of season sale, remembering last winter when I ran out and the new season couldn't come soon enough.

I signed up at the Glenwood farmers market this morning as they were offering 50% off any purchases if you signed up for a share.

Not sure if thats typical but helluva deal if you already plan on participating

Is there anyone out there like Sitka that ships?

Would love to make a gift of this but they are not in the midwest.

EDITED: They ship to the Lower 48. Great Gift for Father's Day, Birthday's, etc.

We're doing Sitka for the first time with the Taste of Summer share. Second shipment came earlier this week, along with a box of sablefish that we ordered through a sale. We need to increase our fish eating. The freezer is getting full.

Can someone who gets Sitka shares tell me if they include suggested recipes in their shipments? I know they have recipes on their website; I specifically want to know if there are printed recipe cards or pages in the shipped packages.

Katie wrote:Can someone who gets Sitka shares tell me if they include suggested recipes in their shipments? I know they have recipes on their website; I specifically want to know if there are printed recipe cards or pages in the shipped packages.

Yes, they do.

Thanks.