Smoked Black Cod from Southeast Alaska Sells Out Fast as Holiday Gift

A new line of canned smoked black cod tips at the Wildfish Cannery in Klawock, Alaska, is proving a hot holiday season item.

Packaged for the holidays in blue boxes, they sold out quickly. In retail markets, the five-ounce cans sell for $39 apiece.

“It’s a really special line too,” Wildfish Cannery director of facilities and operations Mathew Scaletta said.

The company used a $6,000 grant from the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust in Sitka to refine its processing operations and work quickly to get the first run ready by December.

Black cod tips are a delicacy usually purchased frozen and then grilled, but Scaletta wanted to break the mold by smoking and canning them. Their product sold out to wholesalers within just a few days.

“In seafood processing, survival depends on new ideas, especially ideas that include full utilization of a harvest,” ASFT founder and board member Linda Behnken said.

“If you look at a black cod and see not just fillets but also a product made from the collar, you’ve just increased your chances of remaining profitable in a time when processors are struggling,” she explained.

The grant is part of the ASFT’s effort to establish a quota bank to help rural and indigenous communities secure fishing quota.

“When we received funding to expand fisheries access in Southeast, we wanted to reserve a portion to benefit a rural seafood business,” Behnken added. “Wildfish immediately came to mind because we sell their products through our community supported fishery program, Alaskans Own, which donates all profits to a seafood distribution network and conservation efforts. Wildfish is doing incredible work and we wanted to help them innovate further.”

Black cod tips, also known as collars because they’re taken from a part of the fish just below the head, are a prime example of stretching a seafood harvest, Behnken said.

“Tips are often underutilized due to associated labor costs. Processing can take days. But they’re absolutely delicious if you can get the work done,” she remarked.

Wildfish addressed labor costs by smoking and canning the tips—creating a value-added product—so they could still make a profit.

“They created a whole new product with a part of the fish that is often discarded,” she said.

Source: https://fishermensnews.com/smoked-black-cod-from-southeast-alaska-sells-out-fast-as-holiday-gift/