It’s been a long wait, but it’s finally here again; the long anticipated feast on Copper River King Salmon (a.k.a. Chinook) starts tonight at Red Gables Mesquite Grill.

If you’re reading this and don’t know why we’re so excited for this fish, here are some fun facts about what’s cooking on the shores of Lake Erie for the next few weeks at Red Gables:

• Largest of the Copper River salmon family, with the biggest “flakes.”  Weighs up to 50 pounds.
• Highest fat content – thus the highest omega-3 levels of all the wild salmon species.
• Limited – one-month fresh season makes Copper River Kings highly coveted.
• And it’s considered to have the best flavor of all the salmon catches in season.

Another reason we choose to work only with WILD Salmon fisheries »

Choice matters and when you choose Copper River King, Sockeye & Coho, you can rest assured that you are making a choice that is good for you and good for the planet. The framers of the Alaska Constitution recognized the importance of protecting Alaska’s abundant natural resources, and included in their landmark document a mandate that “fish…be utilized, developed, and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” This dedication to sustainable management has resulted in an ever-replenishing supply of wild salmon for generations to come.

The Copper River salmon runs are all carefully managed for long-term sustainability by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. ADF&G monitors sonar counters and fish wheels at several points along the Copper River and counts each salmon heading up the river to ensure an adequate number migrate to spawning grounds to reproduce each year. ADF&G biologists also perform aerial surveys of fishing grounds to count the number of migrating fish throughout the season.

When fishery managers see that enough salmon have escaped past the sonars (called escapement), they open the fishing grounds for commercial harvest for a determined amount of time. Early season openers are shorter, usually 12 to 24 hours, and get longer as the season progresses and run strength increases, up to 48 to 72 hours long.

But there’s much more to the story. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the Alaska fishing industry’s marketing arm, details sustainability as it pertains not just to Copper River Salmon but to all of the species harvested within Alaska as well.

Please follow the link below to learn just why Alaska is the model for seafood sustainability:http://www.alaskaseafood.org/sustainability/tools.html

*Red Gables Mesquite Grill is the only restaurant in Sandusky, Ohio, to exclusively serve WILD SALMON in an effort to support sustainable fisheries. Farm-Raised Salmon (mostly called Scottish Salmon or Loch Duart in finer restaurants) is often sold as a sustainable fish, but the facts and science tell a much different story about how these fish are jeopardizing wild Salmon habitats: http://www.publicherald.org/archives/5464/investigative-reports/health-investigative-reports/

Copper River Delta.