Sockeye Salmon

Sockeye salmon are one of the seven types of Pacific salmon. As far as salmon go, they are on the small side, but their meat is favored more than that of their larger, luckier cousins. That’s why I will be cutting them up.

Fortunately for the fish and their predators (including us), they are not endangered. In fact, they’re not even considered threatened except for in a few small areas. These guys are great at breeding because about sixty-five million of them are caught each year, thirty million of which are caught in Bristol Bay, where I will be working, and they still don’t seem to be going anywhere. Good for them.

“Sockeye” is a miserable attempt at anglicizing the Coast Salish words suk-kegh, meaning “red fish.” Sockeye have more recently been called “red salmon” in English. We should have just started with that, instead of butchering the native name like, well, a salmon.

This particular type of salmon is known as the red salmon because—you guessed it—it’s red. To be more specific, its meat is distinctly red, not the outside of the fish. This is due to the salmon’s diet, which consists mostly of orange krill.

Sockeyes are processed and either canned or filleted and then sold around the world. Some of you reading this have probably eaten salmon that was processed and packaged in the plant that I will be working in. In fact, if you’re going to buy salmon, sockeye is probably your best bet, as they are almost never farmed. Tip: it’s sold at Walmart. I, on the other hand, will be getting the freshest possible salmon, served to me on a plate three times a day and also all over my clothes and probably in my hair. It’s a messy job.