Salmon Fishing in Seward, Alaska

Alaska salmon thrive in the most pristine environment on earth. Your fish leaves the water in prime condition. One of our jobs is to make sure that your fish retains the best possible quality.
We at Alaska Saltwater Charters come from commercial fishing backgrounds. We know how to handle fish and take pride in the way your fish is treated onboard. We have stringent quality control so your fish will taste super fresh when you enjoy it at home.

The first step is to remove the fish from the water gently. Once the fish is landed it is not allowed to hit the deck. Fish flopping on the deck will cause the meat to bruise. We hit the fish on the head to dispatch it quickly. We always lift a fish by the head, never the tail. Lifting or hanging fish by the tail stretches the backbone, breaking blood vessels along the spine and flesh quality is lost. Beware of charter companies that photograph fish hanging by the tail!

Next, we make a cut in the gills to insure that the fish bleeds out sufficiently when it is put into the circulating saltwater bleed out tank. It is important to get the blood out of a fish as quickly as possible. This is a critical factor as blood can seep into the surrounding tissue and form a bruise that cannot be seen until the salmon is filleted or split.

Once the fish is bled, we rinse the gill area once again to remove any access blood. Your fish is then put into a saltwater slush ice tank to chill rapidly.

Temperature is the single most important factor affecting the keeping quality of fish. The rate of bacterial growth, and therefore the speed at which fish spoil, depends on temperature. The lower the temperature, the slower the process occurs. The rate of bacterial growth and spoilage can be significantly reduced by keeping fish chilled to temperatures as close to freezing as possible. Chilled sea water (CSW) is a type of cooling system, sometimes referred to as "slush ice," which uses a mixture of sea water and ice for chilling and holding chilled fish. Our saltwater slush ice chills your fish rapidly to 33 degrees.

THE F/V FLORETTE C. THE ONLY CHARTER VESSEL IN THE SEWARD FLEET THAT PROVIDES EXCEPTIONAL FISH QUALITY AS STANDARD PROCEDURE.
 

Alaska Saltwater Charters
P.O. Box 584, Seward, AK, 99664
907-491-1328