Quality of Alaska Salmon after Harvesting and Post-Tendering

ABSTRACT

Nearly 22,000 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that were caught by gillnetters and delivered to tenders anchored on the fishing grounds were tagged in Alaska during the summers of 2010 and 2011. The fish were chilled in refrigerated seawater and transported, usually within 24 h, to one shore-based processing plant, where they were graded visually. Handling practices, weather conditions, and distance from the fishing grounds to the plant were documented. The closer to the shore plant the fish were caught, the better was the salmon quality. Time, distance, and foul weather had significantly negative impacts.

KEYWORDS:

• Handling practices
• quality score
• salmon