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    • Sockeye Salmon

    Wild Sockeye Salmon Flavor Profile

    Fresh wild Sockeye Salmon has the firmest, reddest flesh of all wild Pacific salmon and is my personal favorite. It is a delicious, full-flavored fish which lends itself to a wide variety of cooking applications. In the Pacific Northwest we look forward to each new Sockeye Salmon season which starts in mid May with the opening of Copper River Salmon. It is considered the most valuable of US salmon species and much of it is shipped to Japan where it is relished. The name “Sockeye” is a butchered pronunciation of the Native American name “Sukkai”.

    texture with medium sized flakes and flesh which ranges in color from orange to deep red. Compared to Chinook (King) Salmon, Sockeye has a denser, meatier texture and a more intense flavor, while King has a more succulent, tender texture with larger flakes.

    Sockeye Salmon Flavor Scale
    Flavor
    Oil
    Texture
    Typical Cooking Methods
    Sushi Health Code Notes for Salmon

    These are notes from the Washington State Health Code, the health codes in your region may be different.
    Wild salmon for sushi should be frozen following these guidelines to kill any potential parasitic larvae:

    • frozen and stored at -20° F (-29° C) for a minimum of 7 days (168 hours), or
    • frozen at or below -31° F (-35° C) until solid and then stored at that temp for a minimum of 15 hours, or
    • frozen at or below -31° F (-35° C) until solid then stored at -20° F (-4° C) for a minimum of 24 hours

    Aquacultured salmon for sushi can be served fresh (never frozen) under the following circumstances:

    • they are raised in open-water net-pens, or
    • are raised in laned-based systems such as ponds or tanks
    • and are fed a formulated feed (such as pellets) which contains no live parasites. This means they are NOT fed live fish, or fresh fishmeal and/or algae.
    • (I don’t quite understand these distinctions for aquacultured fish as it seems to allow virtually all aquacultured fish! Very minimal standards. Apparently, the parasite issue is much more prevalent among wild fish.)

    Proper documentation for sushi products

    • If freezing the fish in-house, documentation must show the temperatures and time held at each temperature for all product
    • If frozen product is purchased from a vendor then supporting documentation from the vendor is required stating temperatures and time held at each temperature for all product
    • Fresh aquacultured fish must have supporting documentation from the vendor stating the fish was cultivated according to the standards stated above.
    • All documentation must be kept for 90 days
    Alternate Names

    Blueback, Red Salmon, Kokanee Salmon if it is landlocked, Quinault, Jack Salmon (they return to the river earlier than expected and are usually males).

    Sockeye Salmon Description(Oncorhynchus nerka)

    Sockeye change color as they migrate from saltwater to fresh water. In saltwater they are blueish-green on their top half and silvery on the bottom with a light speckling of spots on the back and tail. In fresh water they have a light green head and bright red bodies. Sockeye Salmon can be up to 33″ long and weigh up to 16 lbs but average around 6-8 lbs. They have an average life span of about 5 years, and all sockeye die within a few weeks of spawning.

    Coho SalmonFish
    Coho SalmonFish
    Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon Availability

    The chart below shows the annual availability of fresh wild Sockeye Salmon: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh. Frozen available all year long.

    Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
    Sockeye Salmon Butchering Yield Percentage and Recovery
    Item To Skin/On Fillets To Skin/Off Fillets Notes
    Whole Head/On gutted 57% 50%
    Head/Off gutted 72% 62%
    Skin/On Fillets — 87% If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
    Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.
    How to Fillet Sockeye Salmon Video

    Fishmonger’s demo on how to break-down a whole salmon. This is a training demo, taking things slow and showing some of the specific angles and techniques to get the most meat out of the fish.

    Range & Habitat

    Sockeye Salmon inhabit the North Pacific from: northern Japan to the Bering Sea and to Los Angeles, California, USA. Landlocked populations in Alaska, Yukon Territory and British Columbia in Canada, and Washington and Oregon in USA.

    Sockeye Salmon Range and Location
    Typical Wholesale Products

    Whole Head/On gutted, Whole Head/Off gutted, Filets, Steaks

    Sockeye Salmon Sustainability Info
    Name Alternate Names Catch Method Catch Region Seafood
    Watch         		Ocean
    Wise         		Sea
    Choice         		Mercury
    Concerns
    Sockeye Blueback, Red Salmon, Kokanee Wild – Drift Gillnet, Purse Seine, Troll US – Alaska Best Choice Best Choice Best Choice Low
    US – CA, OR, WA Good Alternative Avoid Good Alternative
    Canada Best Choice Good Alternative
    Reefnet – early summer run WA – Lummi & San Juan Islands Best Choice n/a Best Choice
    Reefnet – late summer/fall runs Good Alternative n/a Good Alternative
    Farmed – Closed System US n/a Best Choice n/a
    Roe Ikura Wild – Drift Gillnet, Purse Seine, Troll US – Alaska Best Choice n/a Best Choice Low
    Canada n/a n/a Good Alternative
    Disclaimer: The sustainability info above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, each program randomly updates their information without our knowledge. We therefore recommend that you verify the current accuracy of this information.
    Best Choice = Best Choice/Recommended     Good Alternative = Good Alternative     Avoid = Avoid/Not Recommended Updated
    August 2013
    Nutritional Information

    based upon a 6 oz (171 grams) raw edible serving.

    * Calories/Calories from fat 288/128
    * Protein grams 37
    * Fat grams 15
    * Saturated fat grams 2.6
    * Sodium milligrams 81
    * Cholesterol milligrams 106
    * Omega-3 grams 3.3
    more sockeye salmon nutrition