Alaska Air Cargo delivers season's first Alaska Salmon
The Salmon was served at an exclusive "First Fish Dinner" at Legal Sea Foods in Boston.
Image source: Alaska Air CargoThe first Alaska salmon of the season has arrived at Boston’s Legal Sea Foods restaurants and Whole Foods Market seafood counters across the US which were delivered by Alaska Air Cargo.
Just 48 hours after being caught near Cordova, Alaska, the first wild king salmon of the season was served at an exclusive "First Fish Dinner" at Legal Sea Foods in Boston. At the same time, fresh Copper River sockeye salmon began arriving at Whole Foods Market seafood counters. This logistical effort involved transporting the salmon over 4828.032 km, ensuring freshness through Alaska Air Cargo's cold-chain system, according to an article by Alaska Air Cargo.
“It’s an incredible experience for our diners in Boston — but also for our team to work with such an awesome fish,” says Brian Doyle, Legal Sea Foods’ head of culinary. “For us to be the team that has the first Copper River king salmon is a tremendous honour.”
For over 90 years, Alaska Air Cargo has been the leader in carrying the freshest seafood from the state of Alaska out to the world. Now with more than 100 destinations across North America, we are proud to bring one of the state’s most prized products to new diners and home cooks across the country, the article stated.
“Alaska Air Cargo is hyper-diligent about taking care of the fish in those boxes bound for the lower 48 and they know how important that cold chain is to keep the fish at its freshest,” says Jason Hedlund, Principal Seafood Merchant for Whole Foods market, which has fresh Copper River sockeye available at stores across the country. “Everybody is doing their part to deliver the best quality fish to their final destination.”
“It’s always such an exciting moment when we have the first salmon of the year, and for us, it really feels like the start of summer,” says Shannon Stevens, Alaska Air Cargo strategic account manager for the state of Alaska. “It is huge for our fishing communities to share our celebrated first fresh fish with communities as far away as Boston.”
Top destinations for the first fish of 2024 according to Alaska Air Cargo are Seattle (SEA), Boston (BOS), Spokane (GEG), Dallas (DFW), Phoenix (PHX), Los Angeles (LAX), Santa Barbara (SBA), Raleigh-Durham (RDU), Atlanta (ATL), Las Vegas (LAS), Chicago (ORD), Philadelphia (PHL), Baltimore (BWI), Honolulu (HNL), Boise (BOI), Denver (DEN) and Portland (PDX).
Customers start asking about Copper River salmon as early as April. Whole Foods Market teams prepare weeks ahead to secure the fish.
The 2024 season is the strongest in ten years. This allows Whole Foods Market to offer fresh sockeye in more stores across the country, according to the article.
