Re: Humiliation redefined

This is one of the reasons I love this place. You never know who is
going to pop in with something interesting to say!

As Forrest would say, "ya never know what yo' gonna get." <G>

Thanks, Floyd!


Floyd L. Davidson wrote:
jmorngstar@xxxxxxx wrote:

In Alaska, many people won't eat salmon and just feed it to their dogs.
Seems a waste to me because I will eat any fish. I didn't believe the
first person who told me that. I thought that they were pulling me leg.
Now halibut, in Alaska, you would think it was lobster. Invite people
for halibut and you never get a no.

You been misled, completely. Salmon is the main stay of *most*
of the people who live in bush Alaska, and always has been.
Depending on where one lives, there are King, Red, Silver, Chum
and Pink salmon (listed in order of quality for premium fish).
People eat all of them... except in some particular
circumstances...

For example, I won't bother with Pink salmon, *ever*. But it is
in fact one of the highly marketed canned salmon, right behind
Red (Sockeye) salmon.

But what you've heard about is Chum (aka Dog Salmon), which on
the major river systems where all 5 types of salmon are
available, is commonly used as dog food. Note that is often
true because they deteriorate very rapidly when near their
spawning area, and it is easy to catch thousands of them (a team
of 12 dogs will eat 1 a day each, for over 4000 fish a year).
Hence a lot of the Chums that are caught are not fit for human
consumption. They are easy to catch in a fish wheel too. But
for people who have Kings, Reds and Silvers... Dog Salmon are
for the dogs!

Typically Chum salmon intended for dog food will be dried
differently than salmon intended for human consumption.
Normally to dry fish the meat is "pleated" about every inch or
two, very carefully. But that process takes a lot of time (many
minutes per fish) and it would be impossible to handle the
hundreds of fish per day needed to feed a large dog team. Hence
for dog food a fish is split in two, and each side gets only 3
or 4 pleats. The fact that the fish "spoils" due to being to
thick doesn't bother a dog at all.

You can look at any rack of drying fish and tell easily if it is
dog food or human food. Long thin strips are a delicacy meant
for humans only. So are "blankets", where the backbone is
removed and the entire fish is spread out flat. But a fish that
is split in two with only 3-4 sliced, is for dogs.

There are catches on that though! Decades ago when I was young
and full of too much energy, I had 40 to 50 sled dogs in the
back yard, and spent my summers drying fish for them. With
practice, a small female Chum takes about 30 seconds, and a
large male takes about 45 seconds to cut. Compare that to the
time it takes to carefully slice each one in two and make slices
every 1 1/2 inches from top to bottom on both sides! However, I
once teased an "old" Yup'ik man (who is still alive, and
*really* old now, but then he was younger than I am now) because
he was very carefully cutting Chum salmon as if it was for human
consumption. His response was a wry smile and a short statement.

"You never know who is going to be the dog."

You have to be careful around here because most of the salmon is
farmed, not fresh. I will have to check TJs to see if theirs is fresh.

Barb, on your trip in Anchorage did you see any sights that were a
must-see. Since I usually just land there, I don't know too much about
Anchorage and need to make some recommendations if there are must-sees
around there.

Anchorage is a nice place. Fairbanks, however, is closer to
Alaska and therefore the airplane ticket is cheaper... ;-)

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@xxxxxxxxxx

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Humiliation redefined
    ... many people won't eat salmon and just feed it to their dogs. ... Seems a waste to me because I will eat any fish. ... Depending on where one lives, there are King, Red, Silver, Chum ... But what you've heard about is Chum (aka Dog Salmon), ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Humiliation redefined
    ... Incidentally, as far as halibut and salmon go, the salmon is ... I know people who won't eat one, ... fish ever, though they aren't bad eating either. ... But what you've heard about is Chum (aka Dog Salmon), ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Humiliation redefined
    ... many people won't eat salmon and just feed it to their dogs. ... Seems a waste to me because I will eat any fish. ... Depending on where one lives, there are King, Red, Silver, Chum ... But what you've heard about is Chum (aka Dog Salmon), ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Humiliation redefined
    ... many people won't eat salmon and just feed it to their dogs. ... Seems a waste to me because I will eat any fish. ... But what you've heard about is Chum (aka Dog Salmon), ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Humiliation redefined
    ... Interesting observations, although I pretty much do not like fish at all save an occasional tuna fish sandwich, but how did you happen across this newsgroup on the topic of fish in Alaska. ... Depending on where one lives, there are King, Red, Silver, Chum ... For example, I won't bother with Pink salmon, *ever*. ... But what you've heard about is Chum (aka Dog Salmon), ...
    (sci.med.transcription)